Knicks' Josh Hart expects Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton to test his conditioning
The Knicks' Josh Hart, left, and the Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton. Credit: AP
GREENBURGH — The descriptions of Josh Hart from his teammates and himself veer around his contributions, such as “cardio” or “hair on fire.” They focus on his manic energy and frenetic style, which sometimes resembles an out-of-control toddler on a playground more than the high-IQ player he actually is.
But when asked about Tyrese Haliburton’s style of play, Hart slowed down for a moment.
Hart played all 53 minutes in one game in the opening round of the playoffs, led the NBA in minutes played after the All-Star break (40.5 per game) and tops all players in the playoffs, upping that number to 46.4 minutes per game.
But even for someone who admittedly plays “like a bat out of hell,” there are limits. And now he’s going to have to spend his minutes at the speed at which Haliburton leads the Indiana offense as the Knicks take on the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It’s definitely going to be harder,” Hart said. “Playing with Tyrese at Team USA, training camp in Vegas, the first time I played with him, he was pushing the ball and doing those kinds of things, and I was like, ‘Dog, I cannot play with you.’ So we know that’s how he’s going to be.
“So we know that the recovery aspect is going to be huge, extra cold tubs, sleep, diet, those kind of things to make sure we’re prepared. I think the conditioning, we played a full season-plus, so the conditioning is there. But we’ve got to make sure we give our bodies every chance to operate at a high level as much as we can.”
Indiana may want to operate at that breakneck pace, but the game slows down in the postseason. The Knicks are confident that they have the conditioning and mental toughness to endure any speed. And after a grueling first-round series against Philadelphia, they also are embracing the spotlight.
“I mean, growing up playing basketball, these are the moments that you dream of,” Hart said. “These are the moments that you prepare for. These are moments that you want. In those moments or those games, I love it just because the energy is there, the competitiveness. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’m able to compete at a high level against the best players in the most important games. So I think that brings out the more competitive side of me.”
“Yeah, that’s just Josh,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “That’s what I love and hate about him is that’s exactly who he is. And the thing about Josh is you know when that big moment happens, he’s going to step up and he’s going to deliver. Because of what comes after that. He lives for it and we all love to enjoy to see him celebrate himself.”
Hart certainly isn’t the player most under the spotlight for the Knicks in this series or any night. It is Jalen Brunson who has continued to ascend into the upper stratosphere of NBA stardom throughout the season and in the playoffs. But somehow Hart, who was never in a playoff game before last season, seems to find himself in the bright lights in the biggest spots.
He carried the offense through the first two games against Philadelphia as Brunson struggled to find his footing. Even when Brunson went on a record-setting run in the next four games, it still was Hart whom Brunson found for the tiebreaking three-point field goal with 25.6 seconds remaining in Game 6 to help send the Knicks on to the next round.
When coach Tom Thibodeau was asked in the moments after that win in Philadelphia if he was close to taking Hart out earlier in the game when he seemed to be banged up, he said with a smile: “Josh is never close to coming out, OK? It was a passing thought. I let it pass.”
Hart’s non-stop movement on the court is not much different from his chatter off it, whether it is on social media or on The Roommates Show podcast he co-hosts with Brunson.
His constant chatter also leaves him open to what he believes he will face when the series shifts to Indianapolis, a city that he declared on his podcast he never wanted to go to when asked if he’d attend All-Star Weekend there three months ago to support Brunson.
“I love Indiana,” he said in a too-late effort to mend fences. “But do I think I’ll probably get booed? Probably.
“It’s funny . . . I don’t mind it. That’s their job. Their job is to boo, to get loud, cheer for their team. So as long as I can get some Long’s Bakery doughnuts, I’ll be solid.”
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.
