Josh Hart’s late-night box score is like a box of chocolates: you never quite know what you’re going to get.
He adapts his aggressiveness in that area to what the game needs.
At times, he becomes the primary facilitator, orchestrating the Knicks’ offense, pushing them into transition and giving Jalen Brunson a chance to make plays off the ball.
Other times he is their second leading scorer and temporarily runs the offense.
Often it is somewhere in between.
“I knock down shots I don’t know how many times,” Hart said Sunday after the win over the Celtics in Boston. “I like to get assists. I used to like to score. Now I like to shoot guys and get guys involved. Sometimes it’s bad to read because I should be shooting when I’m open, but I like to shoot guys.”
Sunday was a little different than that.
He took fourteen shots, seven of which were made.
That was the second-highest player on the team, behind Brunson, and five more than Karl-Anthony Towns – who should be the clear second option in attack – despite playing three minutes less than him.
Hart made six 3-pointers – also the second most on the team.
He had three assists, two below his season average.
In the 13 games he has played since returning from his sprained ankle, he has fired a whopping 17 shots (which he did in a win over the Blazers in late January) and only three, which he did in a loss to the Wizards last week.
That level of polarity is rare for most players.
Some of it is a result of how opponents defend him.
Most consider him the weakest 3-point shooter in the regular Knicks starting lineup of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby and Towns.
That means other teams often align their five around him, allowing them to sink into the paint and help others, without respecting Hart’s ability to hurt them from deep.
Those are usually the moments when Hart is forced to be the most aggressive as he is left open.
“Games like [Sunday]’, said Hert, ‘[are] where that sacrifice is that I have to go out there and be super aggressive and keep them honest.
Hart is shooting a career-best 40.4 percent from 3-point range this year, taking advantage of the opposition’s strategic decisions.
“I never call a play for Josh, and he finds his way,” coach Mike Brown said. “Teams keep putting their five on him, and we tell him to let it fly. He’s really good because he knows when to let it fly. Not only that, when the ball is pushed to him, the fives are used to sitting in the paint or shrinking; now, when the ball is pushed forward, that five joins Josh, he’s fast with a quick drive. He finishes in the front, the back, he can still spray it and he’s got his little [midrange].
“He makes a big difference offensively. It’s because he knows how and when to pick his spot. Even when he was out and came back, that first game in Portland, you felt his presence in transition. Whether he brought it or just filled that wing, you felt his presence and that’s much needed, especially against the better teams.”
Hart hasn’t always enjoyed his chameleon-like identity.
It was something he had to learn to embrace.
“I think I bought it in Portland,” Hart said. “Mark Tyndale, who’s here now, I think I was venting to him one day. I said, ‘bro, I’m not getting the ball. I’m not getting any touches.’ He says, ‘we got it [Damian Lillard]we have all these guys. We’re not saying you can’t score. We say we have guys that are better and that’s what they come here to do.” And from that moment on I said, ‘Let me figure out how to help these guys and find them in good positions.’
“It took some getting used to, but I think I can handle it well now.”
The Knicks are set to start back-to-back home games against the Pacers and 76ers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Don’t be surprised if Hart’s approach is completely different between the two games.
Anunoby, who has missed the last two games with a sore toe, is questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Pacers.
Mitchell Robinson is out as it is the first leg of a back-to-back.
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