With 70 seconds left and the Knicks trailing by seven points, Josh Hart received an automatic ejection for his second technical foul of the game for an interaction with the referee.
Coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Knicks' 120-111 loss to the Pistons that Hart was “a fine line” after saying “it's great to play with emotion,” adding, “In the fourth quarter… I can't do that,” he added. ”
Hart later said he was “not swearing” and didn't believe he deserved the first technical in the first half, and questioned why Pistons players received technicals after arguing with officials late in the game. He claimed that he received a second technical shot because he doubted whether he had received it. game.
“I didn't understand it,” Hart said. “I think I was 10 feet away from the umpire when I went into the huddle. I didn't abuse the umpire or say anything disrespectful to him. When I asked him why, he said, “We don't talk to each other like that.”
“So I left it there and I just couldn’t understand how it was that at the end of the game we were running away and another player walked up to the referee and he was cursing. I just didn’t understand.”
With Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined with what the Knicks called a patellar tendinopathy in his right knee, Jericho Sims made his second start of the season in his place.
However, Sims only played six minutes in the first half, while Precious Achiuwa, in just her second appearance of the season, grabbed 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Rookie Ariel Hukporti also scored nine points in 15 minutes, including two alley-oop dunks off Jalen Brunson.
“We were just looking. We wanted energy, so we have to go all out,” Thibodeau said. “Precious has been out for quite some time, so he has quite a bit of rust. But I liked his reaction to the ball, he was the only guy getting close to the ball. But his timing is still not perfect. No, but it's going to get better every day. So he gave us good energy.”
Reserve guard Cam Payne also missed his second straight game with a left elbow injury.
