Knicks’ Josh Hart forces Mike Brown to ‘throw analytics out the window’ with Game 2 stunner

NEW YORK – Analytics help sports teams evaluate and optimize performance. The New York Knicks hired Mike Brown last offseason in part because of his open willingness to utilize them – and any other available information – to finetune the team’s approach to winning games.

Josh Hart thinks they’re overrated. After the Knicks’ Game 2 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Swiss Army knife humorously explained his position.

“I’m never a huge analytics guy. At a certain point, they’re a lamppost to a drunk person. You can lean on it, but it won’t get you home. At some point, you gotta have a good feel for the game,” Hart told reporters at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The data was piling up in favor of a starting lineup change, or at least veering away from playing Hart alongside both Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby. Brown, however, stuck with his guys – even after Hart’s struggles led to being benched throughout the Knicks’ 22-point comeback victory to open the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 30-year-old veteran repaid that faith by scoring 27 points and dishing out seven assists in Game 2. Hart even started 0-3 from downtown and 1-6 from the floor overall, but didn’t stop shooting despite visible frustration. Karl-Anthony Towns joked to reporters after the game that no one could repeat what Hart told himself amid those struggles.

Hart’s resilience, though, helped him make five of his next eight and finish the game 5-11 from behind the arc. He was open ahead of the game about his willingness to continue taking the 3-point shots the Cavaliers were clearly glad to funnel him. And even after his early misses had him shying away from a couple of opportunities to let it fly, he decided to eventually go back to the well.

Mike Brown says Josh Hart defies math with impact on Knicks

Brown was asked postgame about adjusting to working with someone as assertively competitive as Hart. The coach compared the Swiss Army knife to his experience coaching the NBA’s 2015 Finals MVP.

“I’m human, it takes me some time,” Brown said, acknowledging there was an adjustment to Hart’s spirit. “I’ll tell you what, my time with…Andre Iguodala in Golden State helped a lot. Andre’s edgy, too. A hell of a player, a great player. He does so many little things that if you’re not careful, you won’t appreciate them.”

Then, Brown truly opened up about his experience working with Hart.

The coach juxtaposed his pantomathic approach to coaching with the uniquely human nature of Hart’s game, admitting something fans have noticed for years from both Brown and former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. The 30-year-old has more room to err than anyone else on the roster.

“You have to be careful to not dismiss him. Because he’s so impactful as a connector, I gotta give him probably more leash than anybody else. I gotta let him go be him, and get out of his way. And that’s hard sometimes as a coach. Cause you’re looking at X’s and O’s, and you want everything to be perfect. You’re looking at the box score, you’re looking at the numbers….And with dudes like Josh, dudes like Andre, all that s— should be thrown out the window, because those guys are winners,” Brown asserted.

When asked by ClutchPoints about Brown’s comments, Hart made sure to begin by establishing that Iguodala was on another “level.” He still couldn’t help from beaming his way through the rest of his answer, victory pizza in hand.

The rest of that response included the line about lampposts, originally attributed to Scottish scribe Andrew Lang. The version Hart shared, however, was a bit different. While he credited the saying to Jerold Wright, known professionally as Jay, it was actually fitting to hear from the Knicks starter.

Like Hart himself, it was uniquely and endearingly different from what it was supposed to be. And it certainly got its job done on Thursday night.

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