On his 17th shot attempt in the 42nd minute against the Pistons, Josh Hart turned a chaotic sequence into a game-clinching layup, evading contact with Jalen Duren for an and-one. .
He played the fifth-most minutes of the season in the Knicks’ 113-111 win on Monday.
He attempted the second most shots.
He scored 23 points, tied for the most this season.
And the Knicks needed everything they had to come away with a win against a group that started the season with an NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak.
“There’s a reason they can handle that time,” Knicks manager Tom Thibodeau said of Hart and Brunson, who played 40 minutes. “They’re ready to handle those few minutes.”
But Hart originally planned to attempt a reverse layup around Duren in the final sequence. He thought the forward would try to block, but it never happened the way he thought it would.
“I didn’t have that, so I just tried to put myself in positions where I could make contact and still finish,” Hart said.
It was the seventh time in the Knicks’ last nine games that Hart has scored more than 10 points, as the Knicks overcame several injuries and a rookie brought in in a trade to turn an ever-changing role into consistent production.
He once again alternated between playing as a winger or guarding taller players as a backup power forward, but also found a way to score alongside Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo when needed.
Early in the fourth quarter, he hit a jumper from the right corner while moving away from the basket, turning a disjointed transition scramble into two points.
He then threaded a pass to Precious Achiuwa underneath to tie the game late in the quarter.
He made a 3S and had other assists, but in the final seconds, Hart found a last-ditch way to turn a scramble into a point the Knicks desperately needed.
He retrieved a pass from Brunson. He battled for a layup. He also made two free throws.
“Sometimes that can be the difference between winning and losing,” Thibodeau said.
