Josh Hart was sore. Extremely sore. But nothing was going to stop him from making his season debut Friday night against the Boston Celtics.
The Knicks forward had been sidelined for three weeks after suffering lower back spasms just seven minutes into the Oct. 2 preseason opener in Abu Dhabi. He missed the remainder of New York’s exhibition slate and the regular-season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
“You don’t really know how often you use your back until you hurt your back,” Hart said at his locker ahead of tipoff Friday. “Last week I was feeling good, kinda hitting all my checkmarks, and then I tried to go through doing live contact stuff and it was just like — ‘yeah, nah. It’s not there. It’s not ready yet.’
“It’s frustrating ‘cause I wanna play. I wanna compete, but I gotta be smart with it.”
And then it happened: Hart went through pregame warmups and decided to give it a go. A go for Hart? That meant a team-high 14 rebounds in just 19 minutes for a 6-5 forward during New York’s 105–95 win over Boston. The only players to record at least 14 rebounds in 20 or fewer minutes this decade have been centers standing 6-10 or taller.
“I knew [my] offense was gonna be a little shaky. First game back, so I had to do something to help this team,” he joked after the game. “It felt really good out there, to get up and down. I’m happy we got the win. And then continue building off of it.”
Hart’s read was right. His offense showed some rust — and his conditioning wasn’t far behind. By the end of his stint, the NBA’s minutes leader from last season was gassed. The proof came late: a wide-open corner three that missed everything. Had he had anything left, Hart said he might’ve gone for rebound No. 15.
“Hell no [I couldn’t grab another rebound], bruh. You see that last three? My legs was gone, bro,” he laughed. “It didn’t even get to the rim. I don’t even know if it got to the paint. My legs was gone today, man, so [I decided] I’ll help y’all and get some rebounds for the team.”
Despite coming off the bench this season, Hart remains one of the Knicks’ most vital pieces. Head coach Mike Brown made it clear after the game how impactful Hart’s return already is.
“[For him] to have the game that he had in that short amount of time was phenomenal to watch,” Brown said. “It adds to our team, it adds to the versatility of our team. It adds to the defensive end of the floor when it comes to us guarding and being able to do a lot of different things. So I was excited to see Josh out there.”
Hart missed most of training camp and preseason as the Knicks implemented Brown’s new up-tempo, ball-moving offense. But the style fits him perfectly: a high-energy connector who thrives in chaos and transition. He’s confident he’ll catch up quickly through live action.
“Just being attentive to what they were doing [in practice]. Obviously, it’s gonna be a little bit of a learning curve not having the game reps,” Hart said. “Obviously I can go through practice and all that but game reps are different. So it’s gonna take a little bit of adjusting for everybody, but I felt like it was a solid first game.
“Unfortunately, in my career, I’ve had a lot of turnover at coach. This is my ninth year. I think [Mike] is my seventh coach. So I’ve had a lot of experience in adapting to different philosophies and stuff like that. So I’ve come in with my own blank canvass and just kinda let him instill his philosophies and all that and just build off of that.”
Hart gave the Knicks plenty to build off. His fearless, all-effort style blends seamlessly into Brown’s pace-and-space attack. But he’ll remain on injury watch. Lower backs are unpredictable, and his surgically repaired right ring finger will require another operation next summer.
“It’s tough ‘cause you don’t really know how [the back will] respond until you put it to the test,” he said. “My finger’s still messed up. It’s still chopped. It kinda just is what it is at this point. Down the line, hopefully this offseason I’ll get it fixed but until then we’re just gonna rock with it.”
The Knicks will take what they can get — and they know if Hart’s in uniform, they’ll get everything he has.
While Brown was amazed at 14 rebounds in 19 minutes, something he said he hadn’t seen before, Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
“I am not [surprised]. That’s what he does,” Towns said. “He impacts the game with his energy and his competitiveness. It changes the game every time.”
