ORLANDO — Josh Hart said he didn’t mean to grab pesky Jalen Suggs by the neck.
Hart was assessed a technical foul in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 133-121 loss to the Magic on Saturday after fighting Suggs for a loose ball, an exchange that ended after the Knicks player’s right hand wrapped around Suggs’ throat.
“It was a loose ball. Obviously we were jockeying for the ball. I wasn’t even looking at him,” Hart said. “I looked at the basketball and didn’t realize I was hitting him in the neck until they started slowing him down second by second. A play where bodies fly and hands fly.
“Unfortunately, I got him there. But it wasn’t intentional. That’s the kind of thing that happens now,” Hart said, snapping his fingers. “I don’t think I had enough time to process that a loose ball grabbed him by the neck.”
The play sparked Suggs, who hounded Jalen Brunson defensively all night, and prompted a “Let’s go Magic” chant from the crowd.
It was the second technical in the past three games for Hart, who was whistled for taking a swipe at the referee during last week’s loss to the Heat.
On Saturday, Hart hit foul after foul in 29 minutes, scoring 12 points with five rebounds.
Miles McBride did not play on Saturday due to illness. He was on the active roster but never made it to the bench.
It was the third DNP of the season for McBride, who missed two games after a death in his family.
Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley did not coach the second half due to an illness. Assistant Joe Prunty took over head coaching duties and earned the victory.
“I’m doing better now,” Mosley said after the game. “I was light-headed and almost dizzy on the sidelines; it came in. I probably shouldn’t have shouted at me [the referee] Like this. That’s how it started, but now much better. … It was scary.”
Coach Mike Brown opened his pre-game press conference by offering his condolences to the family of Rodney Rogers, who died Friday of natural causes related to his spinal cord injury.
Rogers, 54, played 12 NBA seasons, including two with the New Jersey Nets. He had been paralyzed from the shoulders down since a dirt bike accident in 2008.
Brown was a video coordinator in the 1990s for the Nuggets, for whom Rogers played from 1993-95. Coincidentally, Brown referenced Rogers earlier this month when explaining why he kept the Knicks starters on the court during the final minutes while facing a 16-point deficit.
Rogers sparked an improbable Nuggets comeback in 1994 by scoring nine points in nine seconds, but the Jazz still won on a last-second shot by Jeff Malone.
“It was an astonishing thing [Rogers] did. We were a young team and after he took third place [3-pointer]we celebrated like we won,” Brown recalled Saturday.
“I was with him in Denver at the time, and he was obviously a very good basketball player, but also a good person.”
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