'Appreciate It!' Knicks' Josh Hart Benched A Rebound Short of Historic Box Score
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
Throughout a strong NBA career as a head coach, Thibodeau has often been chided for relying on his starters too much, which leads to burnout at best and injuries at worst. The theory has served as a subplot in this Knicks season: four different Knicks are playing at least 30 minutes a game and eight are at a minimum of 24.
Vincent Carchietta, USA TODAY SPORTS
So when Thibodeau removed starters from the final stages of a 106-79 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, it seemed to be a welcome departure from his usual repertoire... but not everyone was cheering.
"Thomas Thibodeau wanted to take me out of the game,” Josh Hart, one of Tuesday's heroes, playfully declared in the aftermath, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “Everyone complained about me playing 40 minutes. I could have gotten my 20-20 game, but he took me out. So, appreciate it, Thomas.”
By "20-20," Hart refers to his box score denied by Thibodeau's desire to play it safe as the Knicks (38-27) closed a potential momentum-shifting win. Hart pulled in 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists to create the fourth triple-double of his career, all of which have been earned since Jan. 30.
Knicks fans are perhaps spoiled when it comes to 20-20 games: Julius Randle earned one in November and the late Willis Reed had 55 alone during his cherished Manhattan career. But pulling in 20 rebounds is hardly a common occurrence and Hart was on the precipice of doing so for the first time in his career.
Hart's case would've been a bit heavier on the NBA ledgers: play-by-play man Ian Eagle noted on the TNT national telecast that 6-4 Hart would've been the shortest player to go 20-20-10 since Guy Rodgers of the San Francisco Warriors.
Thibodeau had other plans, removing Hart from the game just past the midway mark of the fourth quarter and the Knicks up by 29.
“He’s going to give me grief about something, so it goes in one ear, out the other,” Thibodeau remarked in Winfield's report. “But he was terrific. He plays to win, and that’s what I love about him."
"He’s not a guy that plays for stats, even though his stats were great, unbelievable. But he plays to win, and that’s what makes him so valuable to us.”
Hart was more than willing to break the trend, engaging in an animated, albeit friendly, discussion with Thibodeau upon his exit. The player eventually yielded and soaked in the cheers from an appreciative crowd gathered at Madison Square Garden.
Despite the relatively early exit, Hart did post a unique box score that stands among Manhattan's finest, becoming the sixth Knick (and the first since David Lee in 2010) to tally at least 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists in a single game. Others in that unique brotherhood include Richie Guerin, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Michael Ray Richardson, and Patrick Ewing.
A debate around Hart minutes is ironic considering what's transpiring on the Knicks' roster: Hart has been serviceable and then some since entering the starting lineup in place of the injured OG Anunoby and Julius Randle. Anunoby returned after an 18-game absence last night and Randle could be looming, leaving Hart's standing in the rotation at a bit of a crossroads.
Since entering the opening five on Jan. 29, Hart has averaged over 40 minutes but has made the most of them with tallies of over 13 and 11 rebounds per game (5.8 assists as well). In other words, even if Thibodeau had let him
"I complain about everything,” he said, per Winfield. “I like messing with people, man, so, probably.”
Hart's next chance at 20-20 lands on Thursday when the Knicks visit his former employers in Portland (10 p.m. ET, MSG).
