Defenses are sagging off of Josh Hart — and the Knicks’ starting forward is making them pay.
It’s one of the best developments of a season riddled with championship expectations at Madison Square Garden: Hart entered the season resigned to playing the year with a splint on the ring finger of his right shooting hand, and in training camp, he was unsure how the injury would impact his streaky 3-point shot.
How’s a career-best 40.4% from behind the arc in his first season under new head coach Mike Brown?
Hart shot 42.4% from deep in the month of January and 46.7% in February leading into Tuesday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, the first leg of a back-to-back ahead of a road matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
“I don’t ever call a play for Josh and he finds his way [into the scoring column],” Brown said after Hart scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting in Saturday’s victory over the Boston Celtics. “Teams keep putting their five on him and we tell him to let it fly. He’s really good because he knows when to let it fly.”
Hart said it’s been an adjustment shifting into a more aggressive scoring mode given his default nature has been to get his teammates involved within the offense. It’s a style of play he said he picked up in Portland while playing alongside an All-Star scoring guard in Damian Lillard.
Hart said he frequently visited Mark Tyndale, a former assistant coach during his time with the Trail Blazers, to discuss his role on the offensive end. Coincidentally, Tyndale is also on Brown’s coaching staff.
“Mark Tyndale, who’s here right now, I think one day I was venting to him. I was saying, ‘Bro, I’m not getting the ball. I’m not getting any touches,’” Hart recalled. “He’s like, ‘We’ve got Dame, we’ve got all these guys. We’re not saying you can’t score. We’re saying we’ve got guys that are better and that’s what they’re here to do.
“And from then on, I said let me work out how I can help these guys and find them in good positions.”
Now part of a stacked starting five with All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns plus two capable scoring wings in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, Hart finds himself in a similar position. Except this time, opponents are daring him to score the ball. If he doesn’t, they will focus their efforts more on taking away his teammates.
“Games like this where that sacrifice is me having to go out there and be super aggressive and keep them honest,” Hart said, “So it took a little bit of getting used to, but I think right now I’m in a good head space with it.”
Hart said he considers it a sacrifice to have to take shots when he would rather be facilitating for his teammates.
“I turn down shots I don’t know how many times. I love getting assists. I used to love scoring. Now I love getting guys shots, getting guys involved,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the bad read because I should shoot it when I’m open, but I love getting guys shots.”
