Knicks Take Game 1

And, as always with Josh Hart, the stats only tell part of the story. It's not just the numbers he compiles; it's when and where he impacts the contest.

What if you told a Knicks fan on Saturday morning that Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, and RJ Barrett would shoot a combined 3-of-21 (14.2%) from the floor in Game 1? And Julius Randle would shoot 1-of-7 in the second half of Game 1. And that because foul trouble limited him to just nine minutes, Jalen Brunson would tally just six points and zero assists in the first half. And that Donovan Mitchell would explode for 38 points (including 14 in the fourth quarter), eight assists and five boards in Game 1. 

Based on that info, any fan would assume Cleveland crushed New York unless some other Knick unexpectedly stepped up and had an insanely effective and dynamic all-around game.

Welp, that's what Josh Hart did Saturday night inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

I wrote in the series preview earlier this week that if the Knicks were to win this series, it would likely have Hart's fingerprints all over it. 

If coroners send Game 1 to the lab for a postmortem, forensic scientists will undoubtedly determine Josh Hart killed it. 

He finished with 17 points (on 8-of-11 shooting), ten rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one 3-pointer. To put those numbers in context, consider this: Hart scored three more points and grabbed twice as many rebounds as the Cavs' entire second unit (Cedi Osman, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, Ricky Rubio) COMBINED. 

Remarkably, this was the first postseason game Hart had ever appeared in, as he spent the first five years of his career on three different losing teams (Lakers, Pelicans and the Blazers). Per Basketball Reference, Hart is just the second player in Knicks franchise history to score more than 15 points and grab at least ten rebounds in his playoff debut. The other member of this club is Patrick Ewing, who had 16 and 11 back on April 29th, 1988, in a loss to the Celtics. 

Hart is one of just three players in the history of the league to tally at least 17/10/2 while shooting above 70% from the floor in their first career playoff game.  

And, as always with Hart, the stats only tell part of the story. It's not just the numbers he compiles; it's when and where he impacts the contest.