How Josh Hart holds the keys to unlocking the Knicks offense

The Knicks can’t rely on their opponent’s cold shooting to win this series. How can they put more points on the board?

Eventually, the Celtics were going to make shots.

What happened in Game 3 wasn’t surprising. The Knicks had a poor defensive game plan in the first half, and the Celtics finally made their shots. In the end, it really didn’t matter what the Knicks did on offense, with how poorly they played for the first 24 minutes.

That said, the Knicks came out sputtering on offense and didn’t do themselves any favors when Boston caught fire late in the first quarter to jump out to a 20-point lead they’d never come close to relinquishing.

The starting lineup, which, as we know, is by far the most used unit in basketball, has a ghastly 90.4 offensive rating in the series, which is the lowest offensive rating of any lineup used for at least 15 minutes in the second round. Overall? They have a massively disappointing 104.8 offensive rating in nine games.

Boston has decided to prioritize stopping Jalen Brunson at all costs, which makes sense. The issue is that with the inconsistencies of OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges being non-existent in first halves, and the spacing concerns with Josh Hart, it’s allowed them to silence the Knicks’ captain.

The Celtics have specifically gameplanned to extremes. While most teams have sagged off of Hart all season, the Celtics are daring him to shoot every possession.

Hart’s willingness and consistency from downtown have been a story all season long. After a rough regular season from downtown in 2023-24, he ended the Sixers’ season with a 3.

This year, Hart started off hot (40% on 3.4 attempts through 22 games), but slowly lost confidence in his shot as it started to drop off (28.8% on 2.9 attempts in the next 35 games). From January 10 to March 2, he took 2 or fewer threes on 12 of 20 games.

With teams beginning to sag off of him, he started shooting more with mixed results. In the first-round series against Detroit, Hart went 7-for-14. With that new confidence, he shot 11 threes combined in the first two games in Boston, making four.

Where am I going with this? When Josh Hart has the confidence from deep and is hitting threes, it opens up the offense. While it’s the default move for defenses to sag off of him on the perimeter, they eventually respect his shot if he’s making it.

Hart has made three 3-pointers in two playoff games. In each of them, the Knicks broke out from an early offensive slumber with a massive run late.

Game 4 against the Pistons was a slog that saw the Knicks unable to make a shot through three quarters and fall into a double-digit deficit.

The Pistons’ game plan to slow down the Knicks was to put Jalen Duren on Hart and have him sag off him at the perimeter. This allowed them to have paint help on a Brunson drive and leave a non-threat open. At this point in the game, Hart had made three 3s, so when he gets the ball on the wing, Duren closes out. This gives Hart the space to do what he does best, get downhill and create a good look for Mikal Bridges.

Hart hasn’t been a great shooter in a while (just 33% on C&S looks since 2023-24), but he’s at 41.7% on those in the playoffs and he’s had his moments in the past. He’s able to hit these shots, especially ones with this much space.

This one’s a stretch, but if Hart is cold, then Tobias Harris goes and helps a lot earlier. I’ve seen teams sag off of Hart so much that there’s a foot in the paint, something Harris never does.

There aren’t many Hart touches in this game, but the real examples come in a game he was the leading scorer in, Game 2 in Boston.

Once Hart hit his third three-pointer to cut the deficit to 15 late in the third quarter, the Celtics started to play him differently.

Horford has sagged off of Hart all series, including here to start. What happens, though, is Horford abandons the paint to ensure Bridges can’t kick it to Hart (who’s made a few of those corner 3s in the playoffs) and leaves Luke Kornet to defend it unsuccessfully.

Is this an aggressive closeout or an unsuccessful steal attempt? Is it both? Either way, Hart gets to drive, and it produces a good look for Bridges, who missed.

This is the play that made me look into it. Horford closes out hard and, once again, Hart is able to get to an easy floater in the paint after blowing by their one big on the court.

Look, it’s far from an exact science. But it’s no coincidence that when Hart was doing stuff like this in Game 3, the Celtics were more than willing to leave him be:

His other three attempts weren’t even close. This just emboldened them.

Hart cannot be second-guessing. He has to let them fly. This isn’t Mitchell Robinson shooting free throws, this isn’t Precious Achiuwa corner threes. He can make them; he needs to stay confident, and the Knicks will reap the benefits if he makes a few and forces the Celtics to respect him on offense.