heart and soul.
The heart of the team.
All of the various plays and puns regarding Josh Hart’s last name hold true throughout the season.
Moving forward, he will try to overcome the Knicks’ recent injuries and save them the postseason.
Hart missed Game 6 with an abdominal injury and is in serious doubt for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday at the Garden.
He did not speak to reporters Friday and was officially listed as suspected of suffering from an abdominal bloat on Saturday afternoon.
“Knowing him, he would do anything to play,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “If his foot doesn’t drop, he’ll make any play.”
For the Knicks, seeing their iron man finally go down was shocking on Friday and horrifying on Sunday.
Already riddled with injuries, they can’t afford to lose another body, much less the most reliable body they have.
Hart has played in 93 of the Knicks’ available 94 games this season and has already pitched four complete games into the postseason. That includes a 53-minute masterclass in Game 5 of the first round against Philadelphia and a 48-minute stretch. efforts to open this second round series with Indiana.
His 142 rebounds tied him for first in the playoffs with Nikola Jokic, and his 511 minutes (including at one point consecutive 144 rebounds) lead all players by a wide margin.
But will Hart log anymore? If he is sidelined or compromised, Alec Burks and Jericho Sims could be forced into duty.
“I think he’s going to play,” Jalen Brunson said. “It’s Game 7.”
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The injury occurred Friday during a scramble for a rebound midway through the first quarter.
Hart called out, placing a heating pad on the left side of her abdomen and going back to stretching.
Trainers applied kinesio tape and he returned to the fight, but he finally called for victory with 9 minutes and 53 seconds left in the match.
Hart managed to pull down eight boards, but was clearly in danger.
He typically played marathon minutes at a sprinter’s pace and guarded Pascal Siakam at just 6 feet 4 inches.
He even shot 40 percent from deep at one point, despite struggling from behind the arc all season.
But Hart didn’t look aggressively aggressive Friday.
The Knicks were already forced to play small without Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby, and Indiana targeted Hurts in compromise.
According to ESPN, they shot 14-of-20 against him as their primary defender.
Miles McBride is already in the lineup due to Anunoby’s injury, and Precious Achiuwa will likely start at power forward if Hart is unable to play.
If that happens, Burks and Sims will move into a seven-man rotation.
“It’s not a good sign when he asks you out,” McBride said. “But I think he’ll bounce back.”
