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Josh Hart Gets Brutally Honest About Knicks Championship Beliefs

Josh Hart is one of the reasons why New York Knicks fans are so confident in their championship chances.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Feb 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) talks to fans in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) talks to fans in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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New York Knicks star Josh Hart has taken his talents to South Beach.

With no All-Star bid to his name—a rejection he couldn't be more thankful for—Hart has already made his way down to Miami for some much-needed down time. He did, however, break his fast from basketball by speaking to Malika Andrews and Kendrick Perkins of ESPN's "NBA Today" program

"I'm living life," Hart said. "I'm going to hang out with the wife for a couple of days, I might try to do a boat day. I'm going to relax. I'm getting all the way away from basketball."

Hart better enjoy it, because there's plenty of work to do once he gets back: thanks to his efforts and more, the Knicks (36-18) have what many view is their most legitimate case for a championship in quite some time. New York won all but two of its last 11 going into the break including a 149-148 thriller against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in Manhattan.

Asked by Andrews about the championship "belief" in the New York locker room, Hart's focus turned to the games that slipped from the Knicks' grasp.

"You always want to have a belief but we know that's not good enough," Hart said. "We've got to go out there and we've got to execute. We've got to get a lot better, I think. At 36 wins, we should have a couple more. We let a couple slip away. So we know we've got to continue to get better, continue to take it day-by-day, game-by-game, and see where we are at the end of the year."

With the pre-All-Star bracket mostly secure, the Knicks would be on pace to face the hated Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinal round, which has not ended with a New York victory since 2000. Boston is one of the rare teams to solve the Knicks this year, taking each of the first two seasonal meetings staged, including a 131-104 demolition last weekend at Madison Square Garden.

Josh Hart
Feb 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) controls the ball against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Hart joked that he's throwing away any and all memory of the couple with the Celtics this year considering each showing's one-sided nature. But he believes things will be "different" once the Knicks are back at full strength: OG Anunoby missed the Knicks' most recent defeat with a foot sprain while Mitchell Robinson hasn't played at all due to ankle woes.

"We're not really too worried about those past games. Nothing we can do to get them back," Hart said. "We just got to make sure we lock in on the scouting report and execute."

The Knicks' championship mettle will be immediately tested upon their return: they'll return to MSG on Thursday when they face the reeling Chicago Bulls (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) but that game serves as the first half of a back-to-back that concludes with a visit to Cleveland, home of the top-ranked team in the East. New York then faces Boston on Feb. 23 before closing out the month against desperate Philadelphia and mad Memphis, which was the victim of a 37-point shellacking from the Knicks on Jan. 27.

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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