Knicks' Josh Hart exits preseason game against 76ers with injury
YAS ISLAND, ABU DHABI — For all of the planning how the Knicks will play, what the lineup will look like, it still rests on the unknown that already has reared its ugly head — health.
The first test showed flashes of what the Knicks have imagined the team can be with an easy 99-84 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Etihad Arena. But before their preseason debut began Thursday, OG Anunoby was ruled out with a sprained left hand. After playing only seven minutes, Josh Hart suffered what appeared to be a back injury — although he was ejected from the game on the play, so his injury status was unclear.
Just 1:31 into the second quarter, Hart collapsed to the floor, grimacing in pain after grabbing a rebound and turning to push the ball upcourt. He immediately was on his back in pain with 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who was standing right where he fell, reaching down to help him. And when Philadelphia’s Kennedy Chandler attempted to rip the ball loose, Hart flung it upcourt but it landed in the stands — resulting in a technical foul and an automatic ejection.
The ejection mattered little because Hart had to be helped to his feet. He then walked gingerly to the locker room with assistance from the training staff.
“I didn’t know — I didn’t see,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “I think I was talking to the ref because as soon as he started to go down, I started to yell for a timeout. And so I didn’t see.
“Lower back soreness, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. I didn’t see him go down. And I just saw him go down and he looked like he was in considerable pain when he was down, but he’s day-to-day and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
“I thought something really bad happened,” Nurse said. “He wasn’t in a collision, did it on his own, I think. Those always are scary. He was in a lot of pain. I don’t know what the verdict was. Let’s hope it’s not serious, but I did think it was something very serious at the beginning. I was trying to get everybody’s attention, like, ‘Let’s go, get out here.’ And let’s hope he’s OK.”
Hart was unavailable because of the ejection, but he posted on X a clip mocking his pain.
The injuries shouldn’t be a factor by the time the regular season arrives, with Anunoby listed as day-to-day and the Knicks downplaying Hart’s back issue.
The lineup formulation that Brown settled on was hard to argue with in this first test.
Mitchell Robinson got the start and Hart came off the bench — the only other change involved subbing Pacome Dadiet into Anunoby’s spot — and Robinson was dominant, grabbing 16 rebounds and scoring seven points in 18 minutes.
With Robinson at center, Karl-Anthony Towns shifted to power forward, a role he took for two seasons in Minnesota and in limited opportunities late last season.
With Robinson dominating on the glass and five of the rebounds coming on the offensive end, it freed up Towns to roam offensively.
“That’s kind of what I’ve been doing the whole time I’ve been in New York,” Robinson said. “Just continue doing what I was doing last year and the year before. So kind of been the same.”
While much of Brown’s focus was on the pace — and the inherent mistakes in the first game against an opponent — he did praise Robinson’s defense.
“We had a couple of guys who had huge defensive performances,” Brown said. “I thought Miles [McBride] was great defensively, got a couple of steals, jump-started us off the bench. I thought Ariel [Hukporti] was fantastic the way he sprinted and loaded defensively, the way he offensive rebounded . . . He played six minutes and had six rebounds. Fantastic.
“But the defensive player of the game went to Mitch. He was phenomenal. Played 18 minutes had 16 rebounds, 11 of them defensively, but more importantly for a big, he had three deflections. So Mitch, good job. I’ll get a plaque for you, Mitch. He was the player of the game for us.”
Notes & quotes: McBride had 12 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field . . . What Brown wanted was even more speed from his team. “We have to play faster, and we can play faster,” he said. “It being the first time we’ve seen another colored jersey and so at times we looked a little confused — a lot of times — but we will be better. It was great because our guys got a taste of how fast we need to play. And they know we still have to take it three or four more notches.” . . . All three players on non-guaranteed deals hoping to land the last roster spot — Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews — played well in their first action.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
