Jalen Brunson has brought the best out of Madison Square Garden in the past four years, inspiring its loudest and most frequent pops.
Josh Hart isn’t far behind, doing it in a different way, doing it in so many ways, born from never-ending hustle and never-questioned passion.
But Hart was a spectator to the greatest postseason comeback in Knicks history, watching the 22-point rally in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals with a T-shirt over his jersey and a towel over his shoulders after being benched in the fourth quarter and overtime for Landry Shamet.
“That’s always difficult, watching it on the bench,” Hart said after Wednesday’s practice. “Obviously, I want to be out there. I want to help my guys win, but at the end of the day, for me, I don’t have an ego to it. I approach this game with extreme humility.
“I’m here to serve these guys … [to] make sure they’re in the best position to be successful. I put the success of the team over the success of myself any day.”
Hart’s enthusiasm was evident as he stood alongside his teammates on the sideline, celebrating each of Shamet’s 3-pointers that allowed the Knicks to claim the historic victory.
Mike Brown had little choice but to emphasize shooting and spacing after Hart badly missed multiple 3-pointers (1-for-5) — and posted a team-worst minus-23 rating — while Cleveland left him open on the perimeter.
Shamet made each of his three 3-pointers, finishing with a team-best plus-20 rating. Hart, who shot a career-best 41.3 percent of 3-pointers this season, has only gone 26.7 percent in the playoffs, and anticipates the Cavaliers again daring him to beat them from deep.
“For them, this is the same game plan that put them up [22]. … So they’re probably gonna do the exact same thing,” Hart said. “I’m gonna shoot the exact same shots. I’m gonna shoot it with confidence, play my game.
“I shot good shots. I just didn’t make them … I’m gonna continue to shoot. I’m working incredibly hard on my shots.”
Hart was back at it during Wednesday’s practice, taking numerous corner 3-pointers in the brief window open to the media.
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At one point, he hit eight straight. Six touched nothing but net. The other two barely nudged iron before falling through.
Game 2 will be different from a day at the driving range, but Brown expects Hart’s impact to be felt again, just as Mikal Bridges’ benching in the first round led to him becoming one of the most impactful players in the postseason.
“When you are in the position that Josh was in or Mikal was in in the Atlanta series … they sacrificed their minutes willingly and they were great about it while keeping themselves ready,” Brown said. “Mikal was fantastic … and I don’t see anything different from Josh going forward.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
