This version of Josh Hart couldn’t get anything right in ‘tough’ Game 2

Knicks fans have grown accustomed to seeing Josh Hart filling up the various categories of a stat sheet like a game of Yahtzee, but this was more like a game of Sorry! for the do-it-all wing. 

Hart got into early foul trouble and attempted just three field goals in a playoff-low 29 minutes Friday night, contributing just six points, six rebounds, one assist and a minus-10 rating in the Knicks’ 114-109 home loss to the Pacers to fall behind 0-2 in the Eastern Conference finals. 

“Yeah, it was tough to find ways to [be me], ways to help the team,” Hart told The Post after the game. “Obviously, that quick foul trouble kind of puts you in a position to not being as aggressive. So that was a tough one. Just one of those games. Shots will be there some games, some they won’t.” 

Josh Hart struggled in Game 2 on May 23, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Hart became the first Knicks player to record a triple-double in the playoffs since Clyde Frazier in 1972 when he posted 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the Game 6 clincher of the second round against the Celtics. 

In the regular season, he also broke Frazier’s single-season franchise mark with his ninth of the season on March 25 against the Mavericks.


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Clyde managed eight triple-doubles in the 1968-69 season, and his record stood for more than 55 years. 

Hart picked up his second personal foul with 5:43 left in the first quarter, and he was replaced by Miles McBride about one minute later with the Knicks trailing 19-11, contributing to the latest slow start by the Knicks. 

Josh Hart gets a rebound during the third quarter. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Josh Hart reacts on the court during the Knicks’ Game 2 loss. Jason Szenes / New York Post

“I wish I could tell you. I don’t know [why],” said Hart, who remained scoreless until sinking two free throws with 1.1 seconds left in the second quarter. “We’re down 0-2. We’ve got to figure it out. Have to find the things that spark us, we have to look at everything. It’s tough when you keep putting yourself into a hole. We have to figure that out and fix it.”

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