It’s probably no coincidence that the more Josh Hart plays, the greater his impact has been on the Knicks’ success.
Early in the season, as he adjusted to a new role off the bench that entailed fewer minutes, he struggled.
But injuries to OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet have forced coach Mike Brown to adjust his plans, returning Hart to the heavy workload he was previously accustomed to during his Knicks tenure.
And during the Knicks’ four-game winning streak, he was at his best, playing more minutes than anyone else on the team.
Brown originally thought shorter sprints would get the best out of Hart.
But he has since realized how many different ways Hart can influence victory, especially when he is on the field for extended periods of time.
“I’ve said this quite a bit, especially our first three losses, I’ll take that into account,” Brown said. “The hard thing was, I’ll elaborate on it, he didn’t really play in preseason. He didn’t even really train in preseason. For me, I was behind the eight ball trying to figure out how to integrate him into what we were trying to do. It just took time.”
Hart logged 35 minutes during the Knicks’ 116-94 win over the Raptors on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, recording 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Five of those rebounds came on the offensive glass.
“He’s a special player,” Brown said, “but he’s also a great person to be around.”
Jalen Brunson joked about Hart, his good friend, being robbed of luxury watches.
“Did you steal these?” Brunson said in the locker room as he flashed his gold piece.
“No, I still have,” Hart replied.
As The Post reported, Hart was robbed of jewelry worth about $185,000 from the Dominick Hotel in Manhattan, where the attacker was staying in early September for his live podcast show in Central Park.
According to police sources, Hart had left a suitcase containing the watches in his hotel room and when he returned it turned out to have been stolen.
Hart has followed the incident closely and jokes that he wants to win the NBA Cup (with a prize pool of more than $500,000) so he can recoup the watches.
The Knicks have assigned Pacôme Dadiet to the G-League.
He scored 29 points with six rebounds and four assists in the Westchester Knicks’ loss to the Maine Celtics on Sunday.
Last year Dadiet was selected in the first round and this year he has played in just eight NBA games, almost exclusively in garbage time.
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