So much for Mike Brown’s plans to use Josh Hart in smaller spurts.
This was the workload Hart had become accustomed to under Brown’s predecessor, Tom Thibodeau.
And he rewarded Brown’s faith with a vintage performance, recording 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in a season-high 40 minutes during the Knicks’ 118-109 Black Friday win over the Bucks at Madison Square Garden. He was a team-best plus-15.
“Josh, he’s a baller,” Brown said. “It doesn’t matter what you throw in front of him, he just goes and balls out. That’s what you love about him. He just gets it done in any role that you give him. He’s shown he can help you coming off the bench, he’s definitely shown he can help you as a starter. He’s playing high-level basketball.”
Entering the season, how Brown planned on using Hart represented one of the bigger changes he had in mind. Hart started all 77 regular-season games he played in last year under Thibodeau.
But Brown immediately did not shy away from publicly proclaiming his intention to bring Hart off the bench.
Hart is a ball of energy, and Brown wanted to best utilize that with smaller workloads, which he hoped would better limit some of the volatility that comes with Hart’s play style.
And for the first 14 games he appeared in this season, Hart did come off the bench, averaging 26.0 minutes per game — way down from the NBA-high 37.6 minutes per game he averaged last year.
But injuries to OG Anunoby (hamstring strain) and Landry Shamet (shoulder sprain) have forced Brown to alter that plan. Hart started his third straight game Friday — and played over 33 minutes in each.
When Jalen Brunson was aggressively double-teamed in the fourth quarter, Hart played a crucial role as a playmaker.
“I love it,” Hart said. “That’s a position I’m extremely comfortable in. Normally, we get good looks when that happens.”
Mitchell Robinson came off the bench for the second straight game — the only two times he’s done that this season.
He recorded six points and seven rebounds.
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All of his points came during a key stretch in the second quarter, when the Knicks trailed by 11 points.
“I like what I’ve seen so far. Mitch has given us a great punch off the bench,” Brown said. “His ability, offensive rebounds, against starters or backups, is huge for us. He has to keep bringing that to the table. It just gives us a different look with our starting lineup and then gives us a different look when we go to Mitch.”
The Knicks’ rough 3-point defense continued, allowing the Bucks to shoot 44 percent (18-for-41) from deep.
