Josh Hart Stays True to Himself Despite Shouldering Jalen Brunson’s Herculean Responsibility

The New York Knicks faced off against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Rocket Mortgage Field House barely a few hours ago. With the Knicks currently playing as the 4 seed on the Western Conference Table, the team was looking to maintain their momentum by securing another win to their name. Things started to look bleak for them at the start, however, when Jalen Brunson had to be helped off the court after sustaining a left knee injury. This resulted in him being ruled out for the rest of the game. Luckily, Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart took charge and provided the rest of the drive needed to put up a good points total. In the end, the team won by a score of 107-98.

During the post-game interview, Josh Hart continued to stay humble about his efforts, despite scoring 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists for the Knicks. He was reported saying “I’m not trying to be anyone I’m not”.

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Hart’s triple double was not his only contribution in helping the Knicks secure their recent win. With just 1 minute and 36 seconds remaining on the clock, the player dropped an impressive 3 pointer to give his team a 6-point lead. Furthermore, he was successful in making a steal from the Cavaliers that broke their momentum during the final moments.

Looking at Hart’s performance, no one would have guessed that Cleveland Coach J. B. Bickerstaff had made it a priority for his players to limit the Knicks shooting guard. But he did!

“He’s the heart and spirit to that team, so what our focus is is trying to keep him out of the game and not let him make the hustle plays and outwork us and get the Knicks going,” said Bickerstaff in a statement before the game. “You’ve got to keep him off the boards because he does a great job of crashing and his team feeds off of that”.

Josh Hart is leading the offensive for an injury-riddled Knicks

The recent game was not the first time that Josh Hart had to take responsibility to lead the offensive for his team due to a player injury. The ongoing NBA season has seen many of the Knicks star players like Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby getting removed from the main lineup at different intervals after being in an unfit condition to perform. The situation has now worsened, given that the future of all three players continues to remain unforeseen for the remaining games.

These unforeseen circumstances have only motivated Hart to do better. During the previous 5 games, the player has managed to bring up his average to 16.2 points, 12.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists. This is a slow but significant improvement from his current season average of 8.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

The 28-year-old probably knows that his team may have a shot to making it to the Playoffs this season. Therefore, he is making up for his teammates’ absence and maintaining the Knicks’ momentum at this crucial stage.