Work Hart, not smart, has been the model for the New York Knicks since late January. With injuries to Julius Randle and OG Anunoby keeping their frontcourt stars out of the rotation, Tom Thibodeau turned to his tried-and-true method of working his blue-collar players until they were tired. His most consistent minute-eater of late has been Josh Hart. While most teams pace their players in preparation for the final stretch of the regular season and the early rounds of the playoffs, Thibs has taken a different approach. It’s not entirely his fault. The Knicks were so snake-bitten that Thibs returned to his roots by playing Hart 40 minutes in eight straight games.
However, no one has played those kinds of minutes in consecutive weeks since James Harden last did so in 2016. Josh Hart is in an exclusive club. In the modern NBA, averaging 40 minutes a night is a no-go, a bit like working 16 hours in a factory during the Great Depression era. They don’t want too many players getting injured on the job. But this is the same coach who faced Luol Deng for so many minutes in 2012 that he not only led the league, but also finished cerebrospinal fluid leak during the playoffs, and Thibs always tried to get him in uniform in time for their second-round series.
Without Anunoby, Hart has been putting up Employee of the Month numbers and still looks like he’s having too much fun and trolling his opponents, but Thibs needs to relax here. The stakes here aren’t as bad as keeping Derrick Rose inside for the final minutes of a game. stunning playoff victory or trying to play against Deng after losing 15 pounds, but Hart is the ultimate glue guy. Since Anunoby’s injury thrust him into the starting lineup in late January, Hart has led the league in assists and rebounds and led the NBA in minutes per game during that span.
Twenty years ago, no one would have noticed this kind of usage from a role player, and in that era, no coach has been as reluctant to rest his players as Thibodeau. Since moving up to that second seed, the Knicks have been ravaged by injuries. You can build a full starting lineup from the Knicks’ rotation players on the bench. When they return, Tom Thibodeau is ready to crush them because that’s the Thibs way.
To understand how weird it is for a player to cross that 40 minute threshold, @AutomaticNBA detailed exactly how unusual Hart’s run was. Twenty years ago, 18 players played eight consecutive games of 40 minutes or more. Kobe Bryant had a similar journey during the 2012-13 season. Mike D’Antoni played him 40 or more for seven straight games before tearing his Achilles tendon (due to overuse) later that season.
Today’s NBA contests feature more possessions, involve more movement and put more miles on players’ tires than ever before. Josh Hart was Doing overtime on an $81 million deal. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard played powerful small forward and that versatility increased his value.
Right now, he is the hardest working man in the basketball business. Once the Knicks are healthy, Hart will return to a do-it-all role off the bench. The downside to relying on Hart this long each night is that it indicates just how much trouble the Knicks found themselves in. Relying on Jalen Brunson and a utility man since Jan. 30, the Knicks went 6-9. Brunson missed about a week of basketball before returning to the lineup Friday. When Randle, Anunoby and eventually Mitchell Robinson recover, Hart will return to his bench role and see his minutes reduced by about a third.
As for Thibodeau, his takeaway from this season was keeping pace with his stars to keep them healthy, but who are we kidding? Some things never change.
Find DJ Dunson on X: @brain sport
