


MIAMI — Nobody can question Josh Hart’s desire.
On the day his wife gave birth to twin boys, he was with the Knicks hoping to help them extend their season.
He had been ready to head back to be with his wife, Shannon, on Friday afternoon, but he was going to miss his twins’ birth, so he turned around and played Friday night in the do-or-die Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Heat at Kaseya Arena.
Hart was able to jump on a video call to see his new sons before the game.
It had been a struggle on the court for Hart, who had not played as well as he did in the opening-round series against the Cavaliers.
He returned to his role on the bench in Game 4 and had played a combined 31 minutes in the last two contests due to foul trouble.
In the series, he was averaging 9.0 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 39.5 percent from the field, after he produced 11.6 points on 56.1 percent shooting along with 7.8 rebounds in five opening-round games against the Cavaliers.
“Big difference for me? Nothing really. Obviously I haven’t been shooting the ball as well. But nothing is really different,” Hart said before Game 6. “Nothing really changed. Obviously got to give them credit, they’re doing a great job in terms of scouting, make sure they limit my transition points and limit my [impact] off of the glass. This is a team that has guys that’s been to the finals, guys that won championships. Coach has won several championships. So obviously they have that attention to detail and that focus that it takes to win games like this.”
Hart was critical of the officiating after Game 4, and then was whistled for four fouls, including a Flagrant 1, in nine minutes during Game 5.
“Definitely frustrating, trying to get a rhythm,” he said. “But I mean I can’t put too much into it. You know what I mean. Some of them were just unfortunate. In the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think too much into it. No point. That’s not a true indication of how I feel like I’m playing now.”