Josh Hart’s role still looks different than last 12 months.
It keeps changing — with occasional starts, with cameos at each wing and power forward, with sporadic shots and dipping percentages.
It could look different again after the trade deadline — depending on which, if any, players the Knicks add around him.
But with the Knicks navigating a stretch without Julius Randle, who dislocated his right shoulder Saturday against the Heat, and playing a second consecutive game without OG Anunoby (elbow inflammation), they’ve needed just a little little bit of all the things from Hart. They needed the variety of player he has developed into across seven NBA seasons.
The newest sample unfolded across the Knicks’ 118-103 win Tuesday against the Jazz, when he recorded his first-career triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Hart converted just 4 of 10 shots, including 0-for-3 on 3-pointers and acknowledging “in some unspecified time in the future” he must make one.
But for one night, the milestone was “cool,” he said.
“I expect him to have many more in his profession,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “It’s not something I’m wowed at. I’m pleased for him, but I’m not wowed. I’m not surprised. That’s sort of what he does.”
Hart snagged his final rebound with lower than a minute remaining, and on the other end of the court, he tossed a lob to Precious Achiuwa for his final assist.
He’d been close a few times, possibly an assist or a couple of points away, but this time, in his forty third minute of the night as fans chanted for Taj Gibson to enter — “I wanted Taj, too,” Hart joked — he assembled all the things required.
When Achiuwa was on the court, Hart guarded a smaller Jazz player, but at times, he needed to serve because the Knicks’ power forward.
When asked again about being an influence forward last week, Hart replied with “f–k no,” adding he’s still a guard.
But that was two days before the Knicks’ plan for that position modified when Randle drove for a layup, collided with a Heat defender and immediately left for the locker room.
Jalen Brunson called Hart “all bark, no bite” with the comments about being an influence forward.
The numbers might look different for Hart this season.
His minutes, entering the Knicks’ game against the Jazz, haven’t sat this low since 2019-20, and Hart’s 7.3 points per game mark the fewest of his profession.
However the Knicks might need just a little little bit of all the things from Hart to navigate this next stretch.
He sparked a transition sequence Tuesday that ended with DiVincenzo sinking a 3-pointer and added a fastbreak layup on the following possession, allowing the Knicks to drag inside two after an early deficit.
“He’s only a basketball player,” coach Tom Thibodeau said before the sport. “So you’ll be able to run offense through him, he plays great defense, rebounds the ball, pushes the ball on the break, plays hard.
“And once you’re down people like we’re, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
