Hart Throb

It didn't take long for the newest Knick to ingratiate himself into our hearts.

Good morning! I hope your Super Sunday was…super. Let’s talk about a pretty superb debut for the newest New York Knick.

Game Recap: Knicks 126, Jazz 120

⌚️30 Seconds or Less: The Knicks once again came out of the gate strong behind another solid start from Jalen Brunson, who scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the opening quarter. Thanks to six Jazz points in the final six seconds though, New York was only up five after one. They picked it up in the second, going up by a dozen, but again let down their guard late, and led by just six at halftime.

The third quarter started dreadfully, with the Knicks missing their first nine shots from the field, but some equally poor shooting from Utah kept things close. Then, starting with an RJ three at the 7:24 mark of the third, the floodgates opened, and New York scored 62 points over the final 20 minutes. Even so, this game was neck and neck down the stretch, but the home team ultimately pulled their record to .500 at MSG because of the outsized efforts of one man whose immense heart was on full display…

💔 Hart-Breaker: Of all the puns that will be applied to New York’s new 6'4" guard who plays like someone a foot taller, Hart-breaker is the one I decided to run with in my first (of many) newsletter sections filled with effusive praise.

Why is that? Because Hart’s relentless activity, energy and tenacity is utterly demoralizing to an opposing team. He broke the Jazz - a solid team that came in ready for a fight and doesn’t easily back down.

I’ve said in the past how I take game notes of plays that really pop and that I want to go revisit. For a typical game, I usually end up with about 20-30 total, and rarely more than a handful or so for one player. I had a dozen entries for Hart in his debut, perhaps none more important than this offensive rebound:

This had been a tense affair for the previous four minutes, with the Knicks unable to separate themselves and the Jazz maintaining a one-possession deficit. RJ’s three gave them a six-point cushion that they’d never relinquish.

It doesn’t happen without Hart.

Before the game, Thibs cited Hart’s “competitive spirit” as the thing he likes best about his new wing. It was a throwback to Thibodeau’s comments following New York’s loss to the Blazers back in late November - a game in which Hart snagged 19 rebounds:

“He’s probably the best rebounding guard in the league. When the ball goes up, if you stand and stare, that’s gonna be a problem. If you turn and check, there’s gotta be a physicality to it. He’s got a great nose for the ball. He anticipates well.”

On the above play, Hart is by far the smallest of the five players in the immediate vicinity of the basket, surrounded by three seven-footers and human cinderblock Julius Randle. Hart still comes out with the rock - one of seven rebounds he had on the night, including three others on the offensive glass.

Two of them came on the same possession in the third quarter, the first of which was on a Brunson missed three and the Knicks clinging to a 3-point lead:

It’s not that Jordan Clarkson forgot about Hart, or that he doesn’t attempt to box him out. He just forgot that it’s Hart who he has to contend with, as opposed to a normal opponent with a more pedestrian nose for the ball. Josh Hart knows not of half or three quarters speed. It is full throttle, or it is nothing.

Following a missed Julius step back later in the possession, Clarkson is again matched up on Hart, and again fails to account for the hell on wheels speeding past him for the long carom:

Watch Hart’s release once the ball clangs off the front rim. As Ben Ritholtz explains here, Hart is tracking every shot attempt and actively anticipating where the ball might come down.

When coaches talk about having a “nose for the ball,” I’m pretty sure this is what they mean. Maybe the ability to track the ricochets can be taught, but the desire is innate. You’ve either got it, or you don’t. Hart has it.

The Randle put-back that ended this play was a key moment in a game full of them, where every ounce of momentum was worth its weight in gold. It also contributed to 20 total offensive rebounds for the Knicks, which tied their season high.

They don’t get to that total, nor do they win this game, without Josh Hart.

🤔 Rotation Reflections: As should probably have been expected, Tom Thibodeau stuck with a nine-man rotation with Josh Hart in uniform, and Deuce McBride was the odd man out. It was a tough break for the second-year guard who has carved out a nice role for himself as a defensive pest and occasional marksman in 13 minutes per game off the bench.

Still, McBride is shooting just under 29 percent from long range and his overall efficiency ranks in the 3rd percentile league-wide according to Cleaning the Glass. When he’s not hitting outside shots, because of the position he plays and the fact that he’s still honing the other parts of his game, his presence can be a hinderance.

The good news is that McBride is still likely to be the next man up if someone goes down with an injury. He’s gotten nearly 600 minutes this season already and seems to be in the organization’s long term plans. He should be fine.

As for the rest of Hart’s 26 minutes - a number nobody should be surprised to see go up as we get further into the season - they mostly seemed to come from Quentin Grimes’ bucket, with a little from IQ and almost nothing from RJ Barrett:

• RJ Barrett: averaging 34.7 minutes, played 34

• Immanuel Quickley: averaging 27.8 minutes, played 23

• Quentin Grimes: averaging 30.5 minutes, played 22

One important note: The Jazz are a massive team outside of starting guards Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton. Backup wing Ochai Agbaji is 6'5", 215 pounds, while the other reserve “guard” is Talen Horton-Tucker, who is girthier than a 90’s backup power forward. There’s a chance these minutes distributions were more about the matchup than the new norm. We’ll find out soon enough.

❤️ No Such Thing as Too Much Hart: I wanted to shout him out here, because thanks to the other half of the Hart Foundation, Isaiah Hartenstein won’t be getting a star below. But much like new tag team brother, the Knicks don’t beat Utah without their backup center.

Hartenstein had 14 rebounds against the Jazz, tying a season high. Eight of those boards came in the fourth quarter, while six of the 14 came on the offensive glass, including this put-back slam off a Randle miss.

Hartenstein was also partially responsible for a major moment late in the game, grabbing consecutive offensive rebounds before a Randle triple that put the Knicks up by nine with just over three to go.

Over the last 10 games, starting with his big performance against the Cavs that ended New York’s four-game losing streak, Hartenstein has averaged 13.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. That figure ranks sixth among players who have seen at least 200 minutes of court time in that span, one spot ahead of Anthony Freakin’ Davis. I-Hart’s on/off in that time reflects his total value, as the Knicks are outscoring teams by 7.2 points per 100 possession when he plays but getting outpaced by 8.7 points per 100 when he sits. That number is by far the best out of the seven rotation players who have played at least 200 minutes in these 10 games.

On the year, the Knicks are 15-6 when Hartenstein grabs at least eight total rebounds. Yes, he’s had his issues on the defensive glass, but his contribution to helping other Knicks succeed in that area should not go unnoticed, as the below chart shows:

Michael Grogins @mikeygrogins_

Best Rebounding Bigs in the NBA based on Offensive Rebounding and Boxing Out. What stands out?

This team still badly misses Mitchell Robinson (see: their 27th ranked defense over the last 13 games), but in the meantime, Hartenstein has been instrumental to keeping them afloat.

About Friday Night: Knicks 108, Philly 119

⌚️30 Seconds or Less: Unlike most recent games, New York got off to a blazing start in this one, going up 20-7 behind a perfect 5-for-5 from Jalen Brunson. That’s when the Sixers started to find their footing, and thanks to a lot of Joel Embiid and some poor transition defense, the Knicks were only up 65-59 after a high scoring first half. Things stayed close in the third, but Philly’s zone defense stymied New York’s offense in the fourth and the Sixers started nailing their threes. The Knicks made one final push late, but RJ missed a runner that would have cut the lead to one with under two to go and Philly scored all the points from there.

⛰ Big Problems: Last night we were reminded why Joel Embiid has a real chance to unseat two-time MVP Nikola Jokic for the most coveted individual crown in basketball. Without their starting center, New York had no answers for the big guy. They threw different looks at Embiid but still watched him put up 35 points on 14-for-18 shooting with 11 boards, six assists and just one turnover. He figured out whatever came his way, becoming just the fifth player ever to compile that stat line or better¹.

When you factor in an outstanding shooting performance from Tyrese Maxey (27 points on 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-8 from deep), a normal Harden game (20, 12 & 8) and a scorching finish from deep (Philly made 6-of-11 3-point attempts in the fourth), it’s a pretty easy loss to understand. New York, meanwhile, made only two long balls in the final frame. The difference in fourth quarter triples was the exact difference in the final score; the Knicks lost by 11 after being up one going into the final 12 minutes.

🚧 No Fly Zone: Jalen Brunson was lights out to start, putting up 20 points on just 10 shots in the first quarter. The mouse in the house was so good that the Sixers decided to employ an “anyone but Jalen” strategy from there on in, and in the fourth quarter, went almost exclusively to a zone defense. Someone else would either need to make plays or make shots.

For a while, the other Knicks were up to the task. Julius Randle shot the lights out after halftime en route to 15 third quarter points. Brunson himself also wasn’t completely shut down, chipping in eight in the third as well. It was enough to give New York the lead heading into the fourth, but that’s when things changed.

We saw the zone issues play out in multiple ways. Early on, for instance, Obi sprung loose under the hoop, but Immanuel Quickley wasn’t able to take advantage²:

New York still ends up with an open RJ three, but it bricks - one of his five fourth quarter misses on seven shots. Deuce McBride had an open look from the same spot about a minute earlier, and generated the same result. Quentin Grimes was 0-for-4 from deep, including a good look with under four left and the Knicks down six. At the end of the day, you can’t beat a zone if you can’t hit open shots.

Not that there weren’t other errors. With Deuce being something of a liability against this coverage, Thibs gave him the quick hook and brought Brunson back in, but that insertion didn’t help on this potential transition opportunity:

You could argue that the original sin belonged to Barrett, who might have kicked ahead to Hartenstein, who was both the furthest man up the court and had only the much smaller Maxey to contend with, but even so, Brunson has an open look from deep that he bypasses. That’s just part of his DNA, preferring to probe and prod rather than fire away.

Often times, it works great, and to Brunson’s credit, he’s taking one more 3-pointer per 36 minutes than he did last year with the Mavs, and hitting those treys at a higher clip. Still, in this instance, it gave the defense a chance to recover, eventually leading to a tough runner from Barrett, who also passed up a chance to shoot from deep in favor of a closer look.

There was one moment of hope, midway through the quarter, when Julius did the exact thing you’re supposed to do against a zone and take what the defense gives you. He cut into the unoccupied space 18 feet from the hoop, turned, and fired with no one near him. Nothing but net. After that though? Two straight Randle turnovers after he tried to dribble his way through the zone instead of relying on the pass or the shot. Brunson tried to do the same on the possession immediately before.

The challenge for the Knicks now: how can they integrate an inconsistent shooter (who, granted, is hitting threes at a higher clip than McBride and whose effective field goal percentage is about 30 percent higher than Deuce) by utilizing his other skills - namely, transition proficiency, movement with and without the ball, excellent screen setting and top notch finishing at the rim?

We started to find out on Saturday night, but we’ll learn a lot more in the days and weeks to come.

💫 Stars of the Weekend 💫

⭐️ Josh Hart: Hart’s highlight package from Saturday should come with an NC-17 rating. It was straight porn for long-suffering Knicks fans.

One of the many arousing moments came early in the fourth, when Hart gives us a textbook example of how to first switch and then help off a 3-point shooter:

Speaking of shooters, Hart must have heard all the concerns about his 3-point percentage. Sure enough, he drained two massive fourth quarter threes - one to break a 101-101 tie with under seven to go, and another to put the nail in the coffin and give New York a nine-point lead with under two minutes left.

More Hart attacks to come, I’m sure.

⭐️ ⭐️ Julius Randle: Was it Randle’s best pair of games? No. His defense on Lauri Markkanen left a bit to be desired, he got a little dribble happy in the fourth vs Philly, and for the love of God, why are you taking technical free throws with Jalen Brunson on the court?!?

All that said, back to back 30-point outings is nothing to shake a stick at. Ju’s shot-making continues to be a reliable and important part of New York’s offense, and his truly frustrating moments are far more than the exception than the rule nowadays.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Jalen Brunson: The most updated numbers for your non-All-Star³, after 68 total points on 41 shots this weekend (plus 14 dimes to just three assists):

• Brunson is averaging 23.6 points, 26th in the NBA, and 10th among players averaging at least six assists. Of those nine other players topping 23 & 6, eight are All-Stars. The ninth, Trae Young, is a muppet.

• Speaking to his durability, Jalen is one of eight players with at least 1200 points and 300 assists. Six of those made the All-Star team.

• Brunson is 19th in the NBA in Basketball Reference’s Value Over Replacement Player metric. Of the players above him, only James Harden and Jimmy Butler are not All-Stars. Brunson has played about 460 more minutes than each of them.

• Last but certainly not least, Brunson is 11th in the NBA in Win Shares - a stat that skews heavily towards big men. Only three guards rank higher than Brunson: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard. All three are All-Stars.

Brunson has elevated his game to a place where occurrences like Saturday night - a 38-spot, including 10 in the fourth quarter - feel normal. Yet again, he had arguably the biggest shot of the game, breaking a tie with under five minutes to go with a step back triple.

I’ll never root for an injury to another player, but Jaylen Brown is dealing with a facial injury right now and he’s uncertain as to whether he’ll play in the All-Star game. I’m sure the game means a lot to Brown, but I can only imagine what it would mean to Brunson.

Fingers crossed Brown decides to sit and Brunson gets the nod. The numbers - and the eye test - say he’s more than deserving.

🏙 Game Night 🏙

Who: Nets

Where: MSG

When: 7:30 pm

TV: MSG

Weiss & Rosenbloom Personal Injury Report: Mitchell Robinson remains out for New York, while everyone but Seth Curry is available for the new look Nets.

Halftime Zoom: Click here to enter.

Can we finally beat Brooklyn? Please?

🏀

That’s it for today! If you enjoy this newsletter and like the Mets, don’t forget to subscribe to JB’s Metropolitan, or his hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. Also, a big thanks to our sponsor:

See y’all soon! #BlackLivesMatter

1. The other four players to have at least 35 points on 18 or fewer shots with at least 11 rebounds, six dimes and one or no turnovers: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Kobe Bryant. Only Davis did it while accumulating multiple blocks.

2. This foreshadowed a similar play vs Utah, except on Saturday night it was RJ who failed to deliver the ball to a clearly frustrated Obi. You have to feel for Toppin at this point, who could certainly be feeling let down after he wasn’t moved at the deadline.

3. Anthony Edwards, Pascal Siakam and DeAaron Fox were named as injury replacements for Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.