Why Josh Hart’s impending return could change everything for the Knicks

PHOENIX — It was easy to appreciate Josh Hart when he wasn’t around.

And with Hart set to return from an eight-game absence — he was upgraded to questionable for Sunday’s game against the Trail Blazers — the Knicks are hoping his Super Glue powers will help bring them back together.

“He is the heart and soul of the team from an energy perspective,” Miles McBride said. “I bring a lot of energy, we have a lot of guys who do that too. But he’s been doing it for so long and we’ve all been able to use him as a core.”

By the way, it wasn’t supposed to be this way with Hart. He wasn’t supposed to hold it all together with his energy, leadership and playmaking.

The 30-year-old started the season off the bench and with a mangled ring finger on his shooting hand, the product of a dislocation during the playoffs and a setback during offseason workouts.

Hart’s jump shot was a botched mess for a few weeks to start the campaign, and he felt compelled to make it clear that another surgery to repair that finger — which would have taken months off his season, maybe even longer — wasn’t an option.

Then Hart stepped into the starting lineup and the Knicks took off, feeding off his rebounding and pace.

“He’s a connector. He’s a glue guy,” coach Mike Brown said. “There’s a lot of things we can do with him on the floor, on both ends of the floor, that he brings to the team.”

Still, Hart’s severely sprained right ankle — suffered over Christmas — arrived confident the Knicks would hold out easily.

After all, they handled a nine-game injury absence against OG Anunoby by going 6-3.

They split two games with Miami after Jalen Brunson suffered an ankle sprain.

They went 6-2 after Miles McBride’s ankle sprain.

Without Karl-Anthony Towns, they are 2-1 this season.

Without deer? The Knicks are 3-5 and losers of five of their last six.

Brown downplayed Hart’s absence as a unique problem for the team’s struggles: “Keep in mind it could be opponents? Could it be the time of year? I’m not sure,” the coach said, but the forward’s return, which could come as soon as Sunday against the Blazers, represents the easiest and quickest solution.

“I mean, it’s hard when you’re missing a big part of your team in a new system, a new offense, a new philosophy, a scheme,” Karl-Anthony Towns said.

A big part of the problem is setting up the offense. Without Hart helping to elevate the ball — which he often does with pace, especially after grabbing a defensive rebound — the Knicks are left with Jalen Brunson taking on more ball-handling responsibilities, which contradicts Brown’s goal of playing him off the ball like Stephen Curry.

Tyler Kolek, Mikal Bridges and McBride have struggled to break the press as primary ballhandlers.

So Brunson has more on his plate.

Case in point: Over the past eight games, all without Hart, Brunson’s averages of seconds per touch and dribbles per touch have increased, according to NBA.com. At the same time, Brunson’s paint accents have decreased dramatically. So he dribbles across the field more often and in situations with little efficiency.

Asked about the need for help since becoming the team’s only reliable playmaker without Hart, Brunson, the captain, disagreed with the premise — and as a result, he strayed from throwing teammates under the bus.

“We need [Hart] back, but I do believe we have secondary playmakers [after myself]Brunson said. ‘We have them on our team. And you may think differently, but that’s how I feel.”

Brown said paint touches — a staple of his offensive system — have decreased across the roster.

Once again, they missed Hart. But it appears his return on Sunday is a strong possibility.

“Our overall paint touches are down and our overall sprays [drive-and-kicks] are downstairs,” Brown said. “Part of it is we’re not moving the ball like we were, but Josh, again, he’s another ballhandler who goes downhill really well. He makes quick decisions, goes downhill and if you stay cat-and-mouse, he will definitely get to the end. When you come up to him, he’s a great squirter. The fact that we have to miss that makes it difficult when it affects us all.”