New York Knicks guard Josh Hart will continue to play through an injured finger. The guard underwent a procedure in the offseason to repair part of it, but it is not fully healed, and it has clearly hampered his shooting ability through the early part of the season.
Knicks’ Josh Hart won’t get surgery on injured finger
Hart was asked about whether or not he’d consider undergoing surgery to fully repair the finger, and he said that he is not putting that under consideration.
“For me, there probably will be a process until I get full feeling back,” Hart said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “And that hand will be what it is and shooting. … I’m working with [Knicks new shooting coach Peter Patton] all the time and that will come along. So yeah, I’m not getting surgery.”
Hart has been dealing with a few injuries this season. Along with the finger issue, he missed four preseason games and the regular season opener with back spasms, so he also needs to get ramped back up for the grind of the regular season.
Hart has had a brutal start to the season
It has been a struggle for Hart offensively so far this season. In four games, he is averaging just 2.8 points and is shooting 21.1% from the field and only 10% from three-point range.
Hart turned in a brutal performance on Friday against the Chicago Bulls. He went scoreless in 15 minutes of action, and only grabbed one rebound and dished out an assist. He was a -18 in that action, and only played four minutes in the second half after his poor first half.
It is still early in the season, but the Knicks need Hart to turn things around and become the highly impactful piece they envisioned him being. If he can’t become a reliable offensive threat, it’s going to be tough to play him a significant amount of minutes.
Hart will hope to bounce back on Sunday, when he and the team head back home to take on the Bulls for a second straight game.