BOSTON — You can still see the stitches hanging above Josh Hart’s left eye — a battle scar from the Knicks’ 127-102 loss in Game 5.
It happened late in the first quarter: Jalen Brunson attacked in transition, Hart cut baseline, and as Brunson delivered the pass, Hart elevated for a layup — only to take Luke Kornet’s elbow square to the face. He collapsed instantly, and Kornet immediately signaled to the Knicks bench.
Man down. Get help.
Blood streamed from Hart’s brow and soaked his jersey. He went straight to the locker room, where team staff stitched up the gash.
“Eye’s peachy,” Hart said after the game.
Clearly — because when he returned, he was locked in. Hart missed his first three-pointer of the night before the injury. He came back and buried his next four, finishing 4-of-7 from downtown and as one of the lone bright spots in a dismal night for New York.
“I just shot the ball with confidence,” Hart said. “I should’ve shot more.”
He also got into it with Jaylen Brown early in the third. While chasing Brunson around a screen, Brown barreled into Hart, then reached under and grabbed him below the belt — setting off a heated shoving match between the two. Officials assessed double technicals. After the game, Hart chalked it up to playoff emotion.
“Just two passionate guys, who are extremely competitive. He’s a competitive player. We were tied at half, and [he’s] trying to get their team a spark or momentum,” he said. “And same thing with me. Nothing but respect for him. But yeah: two competitive dudes competing at the highest level. Sometimes tempers flare, but there’s nothing but respect.”
OG STRUGGLES
OG Anunoby struggled in the loss — badly. The Knicks starting forward shot just 1-of-12 from the field and 1-of-5 from three for six points. He’s now scored a combined eight points in the Knicks’ two playoff losses to Boston — a far cry from the 29 he scored in Game 1 and the 20 he added in Game 4.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau deflected attention from Anunoby’s scoring struggles, instead pointing to the team’s collective defensive breakdowns.
“I think the big thing is we’ve gotta get stops. The first half, we scored fine. KAT was in foul trouble for a good chunk of it. But we scored 59. That wasn’t the issue, the issue was the defense,” Thibodeau said. “The start of the third, we got in a hole, we were trying to get on track. But you’ve got to get some stops so you can get it to the open floor. So I thought that probably hurt us as well.”
Anunoby is averaging 12.4 points per game in Round 2 — down from 17.3 in the first round and well below the 18 he averaged in the regular season.
TOO MANY FOULS
Brunson fouled out for just the fifth time in his career — and the first time in the playoffs — in Game 5.
He had zero fouls at halftime. Then picked up five in the third quarter alone.
“Five fouls in one quarter? I don’t know what you want me to say to that,” Brunson said after the game.
He was whistled for his sixth early in the fourth with 7:19 remaining and the Knicks trailing 106-85. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Boston’s lead had ballooned to 28.
Thibodeau was asked whether he thought the whistles tilted Boston’s way. He pointed out the Knicks took 40 free throws — compared to 26 for Boston.
“No, it’s one of those games where we had 40, they had a lot as well. It was a choppy game,” he said. “I think that was also reflective of the aggression. I think that you saw, Josh’s layup — we knew it was going to be that type of game.”
And on Brunson’s disqualification?
“I just felt that the game — if we were going to have a chance, it was going to be right there [before Brunson fouled out],” said Thibodeau.
