Josh Hart’s nightly boxscore is like a box of chocolates: you never quite know what you’re going to get.
He molds his aggressiveness in that department to whatever the game needs.
At times, he becomes the main facilitator, orchestrating the Knicks offense, pushing them in transition and allowing Jalen Brunson to play off the ball.
Other times, he is their second-leading scorer and temporarily carrying the offense.
Often, it’s somewhere in between.
“I turn down shots, I don’t know how many times,” Hart said after the win over the Celtics in Boston on Sunday. “I love getting assists. I used to love scoring. Now, I love getting guys shots, getting guys involved. Sometimes, it’s the bad read because I should shoot it when I’m open, but I love getting guys shots.”
Sunday was a bit different than that.
He took 14 shots, making seven of them.
That was second most on the team, behind Brunson, and five more than Karl-Anthony Towns — who is supposed to be the clear second option on offense — despite playing three fewer minutes than him.
Hart took six 3-pointers — also second most on the team.
He had three assists, two below his season average.
In the 13 games he’s played since returning from his sprained ankle, he’s taken as many as 17 shots — which he did in a win over the Blazers at the end of January — and as few as three, which he did in a rout of the Wizards last week.
That level of polarity is rare for most players.
Some of it is a result of how opponents defend him.
Most view him as the weakest 3-point shooter in the normal Knicks starting lineup of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby and Towns.
That means other teams often match up their five on him, allowing them to sink into the paint and help on others, not respecting Hart’s ability to hurt them from deep.
Those are usually the times Hart is forced to be the most aggressive, given that he is left open.
“Games like [Sunday],” Hart said, “[are] where that sacrifice is me having to go out there and be super aggressive and keep them honest.”
Hart is shooting a career-best 40.4 percent from 3-point range this year, exploiting strategic decisions by the opposition.
“I don’t ever call a play for Josh, and he finds his way,” coach Mike Brown said. “Teams keep putting their five on him, and we tell him to let it fly. He’s really good because he knows when to let it fly. Not only that, if the ball gets pushed ahead to him, fives are used to sitting in the paint or shrinking; now, when the ball gets pushed ahead, that five closes out to Josh, he’s quick on a snap drive. He finishes on the front side, the back side, he can still spray it and he’s got his little [midrange].
“He makes a big difference offensively. It’s him because he knows how and when to pick his spots with it. Also when he was out and he came back, that first game in Portland, you felt his presence in transition. Whether he was bringing it or just filling that wing, you felt his presence and it’s much needed especially against the better teams.”
Hart hasn’t always enjoyed his chameleon-like identity.
It was something he had to grow to embrace.
“I think I acquired it in Portland,” Hart said. “Mark Tyndale, who’s here right now, I think one day I was venting to him. I was saying ‘bro I’m not getting the ball. I’m not getting any touches.’ He’s like ‘we’ve got [Damian Lillard], we’ve got all these guys. We’re not saying you can’t score. We’re saying we’ve got guys that are better and that’s what they’re here to do.’ And from then on, I said ‘let me work out how I can help these guys and find them in good positions.’”
“It took a little bit of getting used to, but I think right now I’m in a good head space with it.”
The Knicks are about to start a home-road back-to-back against the Pacers and 76ers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Don’t be surprised if Hart’s approach is completely different between the two games.
Anunoby, who has missed the last two games with a sore toe, is questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Pacers.
Mitchell Robinson is out, with it being the first leg of a back-to-back.
