Josh Hart is 'Iron Man': One minute of rest out of 197 possible in last four games

For the second consecutive game, Josh Hart stayed on the court for 48 minutes. He showed no signs of exhaustion. The Knicks point guard is making an effort in these playoffs that borders on the superhuman.

With 46.8 minutes, he is the player who averages the most time on the court during the playoffs and in the last four games the average has risen to 48.7. Yes, more than a full game, because in the penultimate game of the series against the Sixers there was overtime and he played the whole game. In that time, he has only rested 1:31 minutes out of a possible 197 and has now accumulated 10 quarters in a row without taking a break.

During the regular season, Hart has been a key player for the Knicks, either coming off the bench or starting. He started 42 of the 81 games he played in and averaged 9.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in 33.4 minutes, ranking 38th in that statistic. However, his importance has grown in the playoffs. He averaged 19.1 points and 12.8 rebounds, third-best in the playoffs and an astounding figure for a 6-foot-9 guard.

Plague of injuries for the Knicks

Their playing time has been boosted by injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic, which have severely shortened the Knicks’ rotation. In Game 2 against the Pacers, eight players played and Alec Burks was only on the court for a few seconds. In addition, OG Anunoby could join the list of casualties after retiring in the third quarter.

Coach Tom Thibodeau has a reputation for overloading his players and giving his stars little rest. This time he seems to be forced to do so with a full infirmary, but in Hart he has found a praetorian capable of holding his own for as many minutes as they throw at him.