Josh Hart\u2019s nightly boxscore is like a box of chocolates: you never quite know what you\u2019re going to get.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He molds his aggressiveness in that department to whatever the game needs.<\/p>\n
At times, he becomes the main facilitator, orchestrating the Knicks offense, pushing them in transition and allowing Jalen Brunson to play off the ball. <\/p>\n
Other times, he is their second-leading scorer and temporarily carrying the offense. <\/p>\n
Often, it\u2019s somewhere in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI turn down shots, I don\u2019t know how many times,\u201d Hart said after the win over the Celtics in Boston on Sunday. \u201cI love getting assists. I used to love scoring. Now, I love getting guys shots, getting guys involved. Sometimes, it\u2019s the bad read because I should shoot it when I\u2019m open, but I love getting guys shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday was a bit different than that. <\/p>\n
He took 14 shots, making seven of them. <\/p>\n
That was second most on the team, behind Brunson, and five more than Karl-Anthony Towns \u2014 who is supposed to be the clear second option on offense \u2014 despite playing three fewer minutes than him. <\/p>\n
Knicks forward Josh Hart (3) defends the ball from Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. AP<\/p>\n
Hart took six 3-pointers \u2014 also second most on the team. <\/p>\n
He had three assists, two below his season average.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the 13 games he\u2019s played since returning from his sprained ankle, he\u2019s taken as many as 17 shots \u2014 which he did in a win over the Blazers at the end of January \u2014 and as few as three, which he did in a rout of the Wizards last week.<\/p>\n
That level of polarity is rare for most players.<\/p>\n
Some of it is a result of how opponents defend him. <\/p>\n
Most view him as the weakest 3-point shooter in the normal Knicks starting lineup of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby and Towns. <\/p>\n
That means other teams often match up their five on him, allowing them to sink into the paint and help on others, not respecting Hart\u2019s ability to hurt them from deep. <\/p>\n
Those are usually the times Hart is forced to be the most aggressive, given that he is left open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGames like [Sunday],\u201d Hart said, \u201c[are] where that sacrifice is me having to go out there and be super aggressive and keep them honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Hart of the Knicks has a laugh with Jalen Brunson during the second half of their win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on February 8, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hart is shooting a career-best 40.4 percent from 3-point range this year, exploiting strategic decisions by the opposition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t ever call a play for Josh, and he finds his way,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cTeams keep putting their five on him, and we tell him to let it fly. He\u2019s really good because he knows when to let it fly. Not only that, if the ball gets pushed ahead to him, fives are used to sitting in the paint or shrinking; now, when the ball gets pushed ahead, that five closes out to Josh, he\u2019s quick on a snap drive. He finishes on the front side, the back side, he can still spray it and he\u2019s got his little [midrange].\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knicks drives to the basket during the game against the Boston Celtics on February 8, 2026 at TD Garden. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cHe makes a big difference offensively. It\u2019s him because he knows how and when to pick his spots with it. Also when he was out and he came back, that first game in Portland, you felt his presence in transition. Whether he was bringing it or just filling that wing, you felt his presence and it\u2019s much needed especially against the better teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hart hasn\u2019t always enjoyed his chameleon-like identity. <\/p>\n
It was something he had to grow to embrace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I acquired it in Portland,\u201d Hart said. \u201cMark Tyndale, who\u2019s here right now, I think one day I was venting to him. I was saying \u2018bro I\u2019m not getting the ball. I\u2019m not getting any touches.\u2019 He\u2019s like \u2018we\u2019ve got [Damian Lillard], we\u2019ve got all these guys. We\u2019re not saying you can\u2019t score. We\u2019re saying we\u2019ve got guys that are better and that\u2019s what they\u2019re here to do.\u2019 And from then on, I said \u2018let me work out how I can help these guys and find them in good positions.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a little bit of getting used to, but I think right now I\u2019m in a good head space with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Knicks are about to start a home-road back-to-back against the Pacers and 76ers on Tuesday and Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be surprised if Hart\u2019s approach is completely different between the two games.<\/p>\n
Anunoby, who has missed the last two games with a sore toe, is questionable for Tuesday\u2019s game against the Pacers. <\/p>\n
Mitchell Robinson is out, with it being the first leg of a back-to-back.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Hart\u2019s nightly boxscore is like a box of chocolates: you never quite know what you\u2019re going to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,327,304,6,1136,191,3810,3806,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-593859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-josh-hart","10":"tag-knicks","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkknicks","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116044310385585655","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}