Josh Hart's Knicks teammates believe he'll make Game 7 despite abdominal injury
The Knicks have been marred by injuries all season, and yet they suffered another one in their Game 6 loss to the Pacers.
Josh Hart left Friday’s game with what the team is calling abdominal soreness. The Knicks forward/guard was seen clutching his midsection a number of times throughout the game. It’s unclear what caused the soreness but it seemingly hampered his play.
In 31 minutes, Hart scored five points on 2-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds, three assists and one block. He was then pulled when the game started to get out of hand in the fourth quarter.
“We’ll see,” coach Tom Thibodeau said when asked about Hart after the game.
A lot of Hart’s teammates in the locker room shared their coach’s wait-and-see approach, but no one would say that they truly believed Hart would miss Game 7.
“Knowing him…He’ll do whatever to play,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “If his leg’s not falling off…he’ll probably play. It’s hard. He’s done so much for us this season so we’ll see.”
"He seems like he's feeling better now,” Miles McBride said. “I'm not sure about the whole situation. For a guy like that, pretty tough, asking out is not a good sign. But, I think he’ll bounce back.”
Hart has been called the “soul” of the Knicks by many. While he may not fill up the stat sheets, his intangibles and energy have propelled this Knicks team to heights they haven’t seen in decades.
So far in this playoffs (12 games), Hart is averaging 43 minutes and 15 points a game. He’s also bringing down 11.8 rebounds and dishing 4.5 assists per game. An all-around performer for a team that has needed every bit of his production with so many injured.
And with the status of OG Anunoby for Game 7 still up in the air, losing Hart would be brutal for a Knicks team looking to make the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1999.
But, as Jalen Brunson so matter-of-factly put it when asked about Hart’s status for Sunday’s Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, the All-Star guard simply said, "I would assume he's playing. It's Game 7."
And he’s probably right.
