Knicks' Josh Hart Injured and Ejected in Abu Dhabi Game

The New York Knicks' regulars all partook in the first half of their exhibition opener against the Philadelphia 76ers—including one unwelcome returnee.

The injury bug followed the Knicks overseas to Abu Dhabi, as Josh Hart left the preseason showcase with an apparent lower body injury. Hart left the game in the early stages of the second quarter while chasing a rebound after a Johni Broome miss. He secured the rebound but fell without contact, allowing Kennedy Chandler to come by and force a jumpball.

Even if Hart has emerged without major injury, he will not return to the game, as he was charged with a technical foul and immediately ejected for throwing the ball in frustration after he was forced to the ground, adding insult to literal injury.

Josh Hart gets hurt, throws ball, thrown out pic.twitter.com/M0XCP3lAq5
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) October 2, 2025

Hart played a productive seven minutes in the preseason opener: the rebound was his third of the game and he also put up two points and a steal. It's perhaps no surprise to see Hart going all out in an otherwise meaningless showing, as he developed a reputation for clutch rebounds and hustle plays last year, his second full-time showing as a New Yorker.

Hart has been one of the more intriguing subplots of the Knicks' preseason affairs, as many have wondered whether he will reprise his role in the starting five. He was part of one of the most common starting fives in the NBA last year before he was replaced, with his endorsement, by Mitchell Robinson in the latter stages of the Eastern Conference against the Indiana Pacers.

The "Roommates Show" co-host is already dealing with a separate injury issue, as he plans to play this season with a splint on one of his fingers after enduring the ailment last postseason and reaggravating it shortly after he underwent the procedure to repair it.

The Knicks are already dealing with medical woes not even a full preseason game into the season: New York is already missing OG Anunoby, who did not partake in the opener at all due to a hand injury, though he is considered day-to-day as the team presses forward. Pacome Dadiet, the Knicks' most recent first-round pick to take the floor, started in his place.

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