Josh Hart Praises Knicks Teammate for Newfound Offensive Mentality

Josh Hart likes what he sees offensively from one of his New York Knicks teammates recently.

Jan 24, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart stands for the anthem before action against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks have pushed their winning streak to eight games and the entire team is providing a positive impact on the court.

One game that stands out is against the Los Angeles Lakers in a 112-100 victory; the entire starting lineup, and Landry Shamet off the bench, scored in double figures. Tyler Kolek added eight points and four assists, running the second unit. Mitchell Robinson grabbed seven rebounds and controlled the interior.

It was a great, all-around victory for the team. Josh Hart deserves a lot of credit for how well he performed, scoring 20 points with four rebounds, two assists and one block while matching up against LeBron James and Luka Doncic for stretches on the defensive end.

However, after the game, it wasn’t his own performance that he spoke about extensively. Instead, he wanted to focus on OG Anunoby and how his offensive output is elevating the eam to another level.

Josh Hart speaks on OG Anunoby's offensive breakout

Jan 30, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) passes the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

"We need him to continue to do that. Think he's in a good mental space of being aggressive and getting to the rim,” Hart said in front of his locker after the game while speaking to the media, via Knicks Videos on X.

Josh Hart talks about what OG Anunoby's scoring does for the Knicks:

"We need him to continue to do that. Think he's in a good mental space of being aggressive and getting to the rim." pic.twitter.com/pBS05W2sis

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) February 2, 2026

Anunoby scored a team-high 25 points in the victory, shooting nine of 15 from the field, including four of eight from 3-point range. He grabbed eight rebounds, handed out three assists and recorded three steals in a stellar two-way performance.

He has helped take the Knicks offense to another level during their recent eight-game winning streak. An excellent 3-point shooter from the corner, he is getting much more involved in the game plan recently and upping his shot attempts at the rim.

Hart, Anunoby and Shamet scoring 68 of the team’s 112 points speaks volumes to how dangerous New York can be. Even with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combining for only 23 points, they came away with an impressive victory on the first Sunday Night Basketball game of the season.

"It's not always going to be JB or KAT's night, but we have enough guys to obviously score points, but it shows that we don't have to force anything,” Hart added.

"It's not always going to be JB or KAT's night but we have enough guys to obviously score points, but it shows that we don't have to force anything."

Josh Hart talks about the Knicks' balanced scoring in their win over the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/t3ujmiXN8N

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) February 2, 2026

OG Anunoby making concerted effort to attack rim

Jan 24, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) dunks the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

During a recent broadcast against the Portland Trail Blazers, color commentator and Hall of Famer Walt Frazier commended Anunoby for how many dunks he had. It was more of the same against the Lakers, finding his spots on cuts or finishing in the open court.

It isn’t a coincidence that in the last eight games, all wins for the Knicks, their star forward has made at least half of his shot attempts in all eight contests.

Anunoby is averaging 19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in 34.0 minutes per game over that stretch. His shooting splits of .583/.500/.750 is incredible, resulting in an eye-popping effective field goal rate of 68.9%.

He has remained efficient in the games since the Lakers victory as well, shooting a combined 13 of 28, including seven of 15 from 3-point range, against the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets. Anunoby scored 39 points with 12 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block to go along with plenty of rim runs and dunks in those two contests.

Making an offensive impact of that magnitude will certainly help change the Knicks’ outlook for the rest of the season.

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