Josh Hart may find himself back in his familiar playmaking role.
It’s one that made this year the first season he has felt truly comfortable with the Knicks, as Hart has said several times on “The Roommates Podcast,” which he hosts with Jalen Brunson.
On Monday, the go-to Knicks hustler was asked to elaborate on what has made him feel this way compared to what is currently more of a scoring-focused role.
“I think trying to make sure that, you know, we have a lot of talent on the team, trying to make sure that those guys are successful and not worried about trying to score and those kinds of things, it was more like a playmaker role,” Hart said. “At the beginning of the year, probably around JB’s injury, the role was a little bit more different than it is now. It was more playmaking, setting screens, initiating offense, doing those kinds of things. That’s just a position I’m comfortable with.”
With Brunson being out at least another week with an ankle injury and Miles McBride questionable with a groin injury suffered Saturday, Hart could take on more of that role again.
It’s one that hasn’t worked out recently.
Since Brunson twisted his ankle on March 6, Hart’s numbers have taken a significant dip.
In the past eight games, he is shooting 40.8 percent overall and 37.5 percent from deep, averaging 9.9 points.
In the 59 games prior, Hart shot 54.7 percent from the field and 32.8 from beyond the arc for an average of 14.5 points.
However, Hart isn’t sure how the offensive responsibilities will be handled just yet.
“I don’t know. That’s something that, role-wise, probably since JB went out… some of those pick-and-rolls and the role of playmaking has probably kind of changed a little bit,” he said. “With those guys out, possibly. I’ve got to see where [Tom Thibodeau] wants me to be and doing those kinds of things. We’ll see. Right now, I think I just got to focus on catch and shooting and being more aggressive on the catch. And then when those guys come back and I’m more into the action of setting screens or giving those guys the ball and playing off of that. So, we’ll see.”
The Knicks have managed to go 4-4 without Brunson, and Thibodeau will have to continue to configure his depth pieces and starters with just 12 games remaining before the postseason.
Brunson has not yet participated in practice, which coach Tom Thibodeau said would likely be the next step for the two-time All Star.
He has been shooting and spending time on the bike and in the pool as he works his way back.
Thibodeau said his conditioning is looking “pretty good.”
McBride did not practice Monday.
Thibodeau said it would be “premature” to rule him out for Tuesday’s game against the Mavericks.
