Josh Hart is a divisive figure within corners of New York Knicks fandom, and an even more polarizing figure outside them. Issues with his limitations have incited impassioned calls for change, their severity ranging from “Move him out of the starting lineup!” to “This team is better off without him!” Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks was nothing if not proof of why the Knicks resist whatever urge there is to act on the noise.
Look no further than what he did on defense and the glass, and what that did for Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and the Knicks at large.
This veers slightly away from the most frequent praise heaped upon Hart. If you support Mike Brown sticking with him as a starter (after a short stint coming off the bench to open the year), it’s probably because he’s proven himself to be a viable three-point shooter, important pace-setter, and integral ball-mover.
None of that is the story coming out of New York’s victory over Atlanta. Hart had five assists, but took just one three-pointer. Rather, it was the job he did guarding Jalen Johnson that is, for now, validating Brown’s decision to continue rolling with him.
OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns owe Josh Hart a thank you
Hart logged more reps as the primary defender against the Hawks’ No. 1 option than anyone else. That sound you hear is a sigh of relief from Anunoby, who would have otherwise received the assignment.
The coaching staff is exhaling, too. Having Hart on Johnson ensures Anunoby can operate in his bag as a backline/away-from-the-ball disruptor and anchor. Rest assured, he has the bandwidth to turn off the water on singular assignments. We’ve seen him do it. But he is at his most impactful, and the Knicks are at their best, when he can be more of a roving savior.
Keeping him in that role requires having a capable frontcourt alternative. Hart is giving New York one. He is more of a try-hard defender than lockdown stopper, but in Game 1, that was enough. Hart helped dim Johnson’s impact by getting the ball out of his hands or ensuring he never got it to begin with. Scant few of Johnson’s shots with Hart in the vicinity were easy.
Atlanta’s offense completely stalled out in these situations as a result. The Hawks as a team averaged around 0.94 points per possession when Hart registered as a defender on Johnson. For context, the league’s worst offense this season (shout-out to the Brooklyn Nets!) averaged about 1.09 points per possession.
Yet, Hart’s impact on defense didn’t stop with the Jalen Johnson assignment. It spilled over onto the glass. He grabbed 14 boards in part because, well, he’s a loveable psychopath. But he also worked his tail off around the basket so that Towns didn’t need to.
The Knicks put their big man on Dyson Daniels for much of the game. This afforded KAT the opportunity to be more aggressive on the less-glamorous end, but tethered him to perimeter duty a bulk of the time, limiting the share of his possessions in which he was in prime position to hoard rebounds.
Six defensive boards in 32.5 minutes from KAT could be a sign of failure. Instead, thanks to Hart, it’s not.
Like it or not, Josh Hart is indispensable to the Knicks
New York’s dependence on Hart remains somewhat uncomfortable. The Knicks still struggled to get their offense together when the Hawks put a big on him. That’s on Jalen Brunson and KAT to figure out, but New York will need Hart to take more than one triple on most nights to keep defenses honest.
There will also be games in which his defensive exploits aren’t good enough. We probably haven’t heard the last call for the Knicks to start Deuce McBride or Landry Shamet over him, either.
Still, Hart isn’t supposed to be making the case that he’s a perfect player. He’s not. But he is someone who can wear many more hats than your average wing. He has shown it before, showed it again in Game 1, and will continue showing it moving forward.
In doing so, Hart will also prove why the Knicks are prepared to start him, to rely on him, for better or worse: because in the aggregate, the better outweighs the worse.
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