BOSTON — You may nonetheless see the stitches hanging above Josh Hart’s left eye — a battle scar from the Knicks’ 127-102 loss in Recreation 5.
It occurred late within the first quarter: Jalen Brunson attacked in transition, Hart reduce baseline, and as Brunson delivered the cross, Hart elevated for a layup — solely to take Luke Kornet’s elbow sq. to the face. He collapsed immediately, and Kornet instantly signaled to the Knicks bench.
Man down. Get assist.
Blood streamed from Hart’s forehead and soaked his jersey. He went straight to the locker room, the place workforce workers stitched up the gash.
“Eye’s peachy,” Hart mentioned after the sport.
Clearly — as a result of when he returned, he was locked in. Hart missed his first three-pointer of the evening earlier than the damage. He got here again and buried his subsequent 4, ending 4-of-7 from downtown and as one of many lone vivid spots in a dismal evening for New York.
“I just shot the ball with confidence,” Hart mentioned. “I should’ve shot more.”
He additionally received into it with Jaylen Brown early within the third. Whereas chasing Brunson round a display, Brown barreled into Hart, then reached underneath and grabbed him beneath the belt — setting off a heated shoving match between the 2. Officers assessed double technicals. After the sport, Hart chalked it as much as playoff emotion.
“Just two passionate guys, who are extremely competitive. He’s a competitive player. We were tied at half, and [he’s] trying to get their team a spark or momentum,” he mentioned. “And same thing with me. Nothing but respect for him. But yeah: two competitive dudes competing at the highest level. Sometimes tempers flare, but there’s nothing but respect.”
OG STRUGGLES
OG Anunoby struggled within the loss — badly. The Knicks beginning ahead shot simply 1-of-12 from the sphere and 1-of-5 from three for six factors. He’s now scored a mixed eight factors within the Knicks’ two playoff losses to Boston — a far cry from the 29 he scored in Recreation 1 and the 20 he added in Recreation 4.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau deflected consideration from Anunoby’s scoring struggles, as a substitute pointing to the workforce’s collective defensive breakdowns.
“I think the big thing is we’ve gotta get stops. The first half, we scored fine. KAT was in foul trouble for a good chunk of it. But we scored 59. That wasn’t the issue, the issue was the defense,” Thibodeau mentioned. “The start of the third, we got in a hole, we were trying to get on track. But you’ve got to get some stops so you can get it to the open floor. So I thought that probably hurt us as well.”
Anunoby is averaging 12.4 factors per sport in Spherical 2 — down from 17.3 within the first spherical and effectively beneath the 18 he averaged within the common season.
TOO MANY FOULS
Brunson fouled out for simply the fifth time in his profession — and the primary time within the playoffs — in Recreation 5.
He had zero fouls at halftime. Then picked up 5 within the third quarter alone.
“Five fouls in one quarter? I don’t know what you want me to say to that,” Brunson mentioned after the sport.
He was whistled for his sixth early within the fourth with 7:19 remaining and the Knicks trailing 106-85. By the point the ultimate buzzer sounded, Boston’s lead had ballooned to twenty-eight.
Thibodeau was requested whether or not he thought the whistles tilted Boston’s means. He identified the Knicks took 40 free throws — in comparison with 26 for Boston.
“No, it’s one of those games where we had 40, they had a lot as well. It was a choppy game,” he mentioned. “I think that was also reflective of the aggression. I think that you saw, Josh’s layup — we knew it was going to be that type of game.”
And on Brunson’s disqualification?
“I just felt that the game — if we were going to have a chance, it was going to be right there [before Brunson fouled out],” mentioned Thibodeau.
