No one has logged more minutes for the Knicks during the first 10 games of the playoffs, but Josh Hart continues to be the staunchest defender of Tom Thibodeau and his rotation decisions.
With injuries mounting — including four regulars sidelined, plus star point guard Jalen Brunson among those playing through various ailments — Hart issued a pointed rebuke when asked before Tuesday’s Game 5 at the Garden what he thinks of the outside narrative that Thibodeau is “running guys into the ground.”
“You expect ignorance when people have no idea what goes on in this building,” Hart said after the Knicks’ morning shootaround in Tarrytown. “People love to have a narrative or a label and run with it. None of those guys are here watching us practice. None of those guys are watching what we do.
“At the end of the day, seventh year of my career, I’ve probably had more off days than I’ve had in other days. We don’t go contact in practice. Everyone thinks we do three-hour practices of scrimmaging. It’s idiotic to put it on him. He’s not going to say anything about it. He’s going to take it on the chin and keep on moving.”
Hart and other starters actually spent significant time on the bench due to the Pacers’ blowout victory in Game 4 in Indiana to even the series. Hart, who has played four complete games already in the postseason while averaging a team-high 44.1 minutes per game, played only 24 in Sunday’s rout.
“I’ll never say getting your ass kicked is a blessing, but playing 24, it’s cool, I guess,” Hart said. “Some could say it’s like a day off, so we had a couple days off in between games and now we’ve gotta bring energy.”
Hart admitted after Game 4 that he didn’t bring his usual energy — finishing with only two points and three rebounds — but he refused to blame that stat-line on overwork, and especially not on Thibodeau.
“At the end of the day people are going to say things for clicks. People are going to say things that make them feel like they stuck it to him or they made something,” Hart said. “But at the end of the day they are not in this building, they are not in that locker room.
“Whatever they say doesn’t mean anything. Put any of those guys in this position and see what they do.”
Hart, who said he spent Sunday’s off-day “vibing” with his wife and children for Mother’s Day, added that he knew what to expect Tuesday night from the MSG crowd after one tight defeat and one massacre in the two road game.
“What’s my message? Continue to be [behind us]. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Hart said. “Like I’ve said before, if you told us at the beginning of the year that we’d be two wins away from the Eastern Conference finals — without Julius [Randle], without OG [Anunoby], without Bogey [Bojan Bogdanovic], without Mitch [Mitchell Robinson] — I think any fan, any New York sports fan, any Knick fan, they would love to be in that situation.
“This is a team that’s fought through injury after injury. We don’t quit. That’s something that we expect from our fans, even after a 30-point loss. We expect them to be there and give us energy and have passion and passion in the Knicks. So that’s something I’ll tell them, just to continue to rock with us during this journey. And we’re going to give it our all.”