A short-handed rotation for New York takes another blow, with Hart’s status for Game 7 now up in the air as well.
The do-it-all forward and consistent playoff player suffered an abdominal strain in Game 6 that ended his night prematurely.
Hart has been ruled out for what the Knicks are calling “abdominal soreness.”
When asked about Hart’s status after the game, Thibodeau was non-committal, with no update.
“We’ll see,” the coach told reporters.
Donte DiVincenzo is simply accepting the challenge. One that has been consistent for New York all season.
“Obviously you never want to see someone get hurt,” DiVincenzo told SNY after the game. “But it was our season. We have more than enough, whoever is on the field. I’ve said it 100 times. Whatever five is on the pitch, we have a project here. Thibs demands certain things from certain guys. And if you go out there, you race full throttle. And you give yourself a chance to win. So that’s our mentality, whether he goes or not. This is our mentality.”
Jalen Brunson was more optimistic, saying the nature of Game 7 makes Hart’s status less uncertain. “I assume he’s playing,” Brunson told reporters on May 17. “It’s Game 7.”
Miles McBride maintained the same optimism, even saying that Hart is already on the mend.
“It seems like he feels better now,” McBride told SNY after the game. “I’m not sure about the whole situation, but obviously for a guy like that, you know, pretty tough, asking out is not a good sign. But I think he will recover.”
Starting center Isaiah Hartenstein is confident that Hart will do whatever it takes to play in Game 7.
“I mean, just knowing him, I didn’t talk to him or know the situation right now, but just knowing him, he’ll do anything to play,” Hartenstein told SNY. “If his leg doesn’t fall off, I can say he’ll probably play. I haven’t spoken to him yet. But we’ll see.”
Hart averaged 14.9 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the playoffs.
He leads the NBA in minutes played this postseason with 511.2 and has played 81 of 82 regular season games.
His status will be another major storyline for a team that has already defeated Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.