The New York Knicks lost their 2-game winning streak in game 3 of the semifinals as the Indiana Pacers outclassed them 111-106. Though Donte DiVincenzo performed his best at the game last night, the win stayed far away from them. The Knicks had no regrets moving forward, but the refereeing controversy that erupted in the game seems to have taken over the mind of Josh Hart; a controversy concerning the crucial Pacers Myles Turner take on Hart with two minutes remaining on the clock.

While interacting with media post-game, when a reporter asked about the behavior of the referee, Josh replied, “I like my money. I’m gonna keep my money.” The Knicks guard here insinuated the fine he could get for talking foul about the league officials on a public platform– an instance more recently felt by Pacers’ coach Rick Carlisle. Notably, Hart has signed a four-year contract extension with the Knicks worth $81 million. Overall, Hart will receive a total of $94 million till the 2027-28 season. Therefore, he did not say much but did mention how the referee’s behavior is important for such important games, as he remarked, “One of them [referees] was not approachable.” 

The incident that Hart was talking about here was a missed call that the referee did not notice at the end of the fourth quarter. The NBA officials missed a call on Myles Turner’s block against Hart’s fast-break layup. The ball had already touched the backboard, so the call would have favored the Knicks as the score was tied at 102. With the call being missed at such a crucial time, it might be suitable to say that the Knicks could have won the match if the call had been made by the referee.

Circle of Life? Josh Hart Sermonized the Pacers Coach Before Game 3

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was not happy with the officiating in Game 2 against the Knicks, due to which he was ejected from the game and eventually fined $35,000 for criticising officiating. Later, when Hart was asked about the complaints from Carlisle about the league and one of his league friends, Tyrese Haliburton, Hart did not go easy on the Pacers coach. Per the Knicks guard, it was “pretty disrespectful” to his team as the Knicks had nothing to do with the Haliburton that Carlisle was going on a rant about.

Hart justified the physical style of play that his team played against the Pacers in Game 2 as a high-level game and intense competition. He did not like Carlisle discrediting the Knicks’ style of play and called it a not-so-respectful act. However, the 29-year-old went through the same fate and remarked about the officiating after Game 3. Though he refrained from making any controversial comment, he did express his discontent in the minimal way possible.

Yet the Knicks guard was asking the team’s PR personnel if they would get fined for even saying that or not. Clearly, Josh Hart had a taste of his own medicine that he was giving to the Pacers coach. However, the Knicks are not going to stay abacked and might bounce back against their arch nemesis, Indiana Pacers. Will they be able to continue their lead in Game 4?