Knicks' Josh Hart questionable for Game 6 against Hawks with lower back contusion
Hart has been a difference-maker on defense and on the boards for New York in Round 1.
New York Knicks forward Josh Hart is listed as questionable for Game 6 of the team’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night with a lower back contusion. Hart played 30 minutes in New York’s dominant Game 5 win , scoring 9 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. But after subbing out with 6:27 to go in the fourth quarter, he went back to the Knicks locker room and did not return to the bench before the end of the game.
Head coach Mike Brown did not have an update on the injury or Hart’s status during his postgame press conference. After suffering a back injury in New York’s first preseason game, Hart missed the remainder of the Knicks’ exhibition slate and their regular-season opener with back spasms. He came off the bench for the first month after his return, as Brown managed his minutes and explored several different options — center Mitchell Robinson, guards Miles McBride and Landry Shamet — for the fifth spot in New York’s starting lineup alongside entrenched starters Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
When he returned to the starting lineup just before Thanksgiving, though, Hart didn’t skip a beat. The 31-year-old averaged 12. 6 points, 7.
6 rebounds, 4. 9 assists and 1. 2 steals per game for the rest of the season, shooting 57% on 2-pointers and 43% from 3-point range.