The not-so-smart work heart has been the blueprint for the New York Knicks since late January. While injuries to Julius Randle and OG Anunoby have left frontcourt stars out of the rotation, Tom Thibodeau has turned to the tried-and-true method of working his blue-collar contributors until they exhaust themselves. His most consistent minute eater recently has been Josh Hart. While most teams were slowing their players down in anticipation of the final game of the regular season and the opening round of the postseason, Thibs took a different approach. It’s not entirely his fault. The Knicks were so snake-bitten that Thibs went back to his roots by playing Hart for 40 minutes for the eighth straight game.
But no one has done that type of performance for multiple weeks in a row since James Harden last did it in 2016. Josh Hart is in an exclusive club. An average of 40 minutes per day is a prohibitive standard in the modern NBA. It’s a 16-hour workday, similar to the factory shift during the Great Depression. They don’t want too many players getting injured on the field. But this is the same coach who not only led the league in playing Luol Deng for so long in 2012, but also got injured. spinal fluid leak During the playoffs, and Thibs yet We tried to get him in uniform for the second round series.
Without Anunoby, Hart has put up employee of the month numbers and still looks like he’s having too much fun and trolling his opponents, but Thibs needs to take it easy here. The risk here isn’t as bad as keeping Derrick Rose out for the final minutes of the game. Overwhelming playoff victory Or lose 15 pounds and try to play Deng, but Hart is the ultimate glue man. Since entering the starting lineup in late January due to Anunoby’s injury, Hart has led the league in assists and rebounds and led the NBA in minutes per game during that span.
Twenty years later, no one would have noticed this use of role players, and no coach in this era was more resistant to resting players than Thibodeau. Since slipping to the second seed, the Knicks have been ravaged by injuries. You could build an entire starting lineup with the Knicks rotation players on the bench. When they return, Tom Thibodeau is ready to run them into the ground. Because that’s the Thibs way.
To chart just how bizarre it is for players to exceed the 40 minute threshold @AutoNBA It detailed just how unusual Hart’s run was. Twenty years ago, 18 players played eight straight games of 40 minutes or more. Kobe Bryant also achieved similar results in the 2012-13 season. Mike D’Antoni played over 40 games in seven straight games before tearing his Achilles tendon (due to an overuse) later that season.
Today’s NBA contests have more possessions, involve more movement and put more mileage on players’ tires than ever before. Josh Hart overtime A bargain $81 million deal. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard brings small ball power forward and that versatility increases his value.
Now he is the hardest working man in basketball. Once the Knicks are fully healthy, Hart will likely return to an all-purpose role off the bench. The downside to relying on Hart for so long every night is that it shows how much the Knicks have struggled. Since Jan. 30, relying on Jalen Brunson and utility players, the Knicks have gone 6-9. Brunson missed about a week of basketball before returning to the lineup on Friday. Once Randle, Anunoby, and eventually Mitchell Robinson recover, Hart will return to a bench role, cutting his minutes by about a third.
For Thibodeau, the lesson he learned this season was pacing his stars to keep them healthy. But are we kidding? Some things don’t change.
Find DJ Dunson atcerebral sports
