Josh Hart did a little bit of everything in the Knicks’ win over Toronto on Wednesday. Twenty-one points, 11 rebounds, seven assists. In other words, he had a typical Josh Hart game.
The win snapped a season-high three-game losing streak. It also probably calmed the nerves of some fans on edge after the Knicks’ awful loss to the Magic on Monday.
“We were determined to bounce back from the way we (lost against the Magic). We know that it’s unacceptable and we hold each other accountable,” Jalen Brunson said after Wednesday's win. “Just happy with the way we responded.”
In his own way, Hart led the way for New York. His six offensive rebounds led directly to eight points. His seven assists led to 17 points.
Those numbers pushed Hart’s season averages up to 14.4 points, 9.1 rebounds (career high) and seven assists (career-high).
If you ask Hart, the stats that matter more to him are the 27 points and 13 rebounds that Karl-Anthony Towns put up on Wednesday. Or the 27 points from OG Anunoby.
He says his role is “to be a servant for these guys. To make sure JB and KAT are in the right situations, to find them when they’re open. So they don’t gotta work so hard. To make sure Mikal [Bridges] and OG are playing well, getting open shots, getting good shots. And making sure these guys reach their goals and their accomplishments. And get All-Star love and those kind of things.
“I think I’m most happy that those guys are playing well and that’s something that I want to continue to do.”
Hart has played that role at a high level. With Wednesday’s win, the Knicks improved to 89-53 with Hart in the lineup.
‘MINUTES POLICE’
New York entered Tuesday’s games with three players ranked within the NBA’s top seven in minutes per game. Four Knicks were within the NBA’s top six in distance traveled. New York had four players within the top seven in total minutes.
Playing time for the starting five has led to discourse among media and fans about a heavy workload under head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Hart played 38 minutes on Wednesday. He was asked after the game about the minutes topic.
“Every year, it’s the same thing. We do the same thing as always. We have a couple bad games, a couple losses in a row and all y'all cry about minutes, be the minute police and all that,” he said. “That’s all outside noise. We’re gonna play the game the way we’re supposed to play it. We’re gonna play as hard as we can when we’re out there.
“I want to be out there (playing big minutes), myself personally,” Hart added. “So it’s just noise.”
Towns was also asked about the minutes issue on Wednesday.
“It’s great when you can get the reps up…I’ve already played for Thibs. So we all are very aware of the way he likes to play basketball, we respect him and we know he’s going to give us the best chance to win every single night,” Towns said after putting up 27 points and 13 rebounds against Toronto. “So I don’t think it’s new to us. For us we’re new as a cohesive unit, but playing for the mastermind of Thibs, we’re in a good comfortable place.”
Towns was also asked about criticism of Thibodeau over minutes load when he was in Minnesota.
“I feel like y’all give him flack all the time. No matter where he’s at. The one thing about it, y’all keep talking about him so that means he keeps getting a job so that means he’s respected and you know what he can do for a team,” Towns said. “He’s done it in Chicago, he did it with Boston, he did it with us in Minny and he’s doing it here even before I got here. So say what you want about Thibs, he gets the job done.”