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Josh Hart Weighs in On Last-Second Foul Play

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Aleksandar Mishkov | Last updated Apr 27, 2025 7:18 PM ET

The New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons played another down-to-the-wire game. And again, the Knicks were victorious. This time, however, there was a bit of controversy on the last-second play. Was it a foul by Josh Hart or not? The Knicks forward had an opinion about it after the game.

Josh Hart Weighs in On Last-Second Foul Play

Speaking with reporters after the game, Hart admitted that there was contact on the foul play. But he refused to say whether that was a foul or not. The Knicks forward said,

“Did I make contact with him? Yes, I made contact with him. Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll let the two-minute report say that.”

The play in question was the last-second shot by Tim Hardaway Jr. With the Knicks leading 94-93, the Pistons had one last shot to try and win the game. In the mess, Hardaway got a shot off, but he missed it. Pistons players believed that he was fouled by Hart on the play, but the referees didn’t call it.

Piston Coach Wants More Respect for His Players

Throughout the entire series, coaches have talked about free throws and whether their players are getting the respect they deserve. After this one, JB Bickerstaff, head coach of the Pistons, talked about it again. Speaking about the last-second play by Hart, he said,

“You know, the guy leaves his feet, there’s contact on Tim Hardaway’s jump shot. You know, I don’t know any other way around it, there’s contact on his jump shot. The guy leaves his feet he’s at Timmy’s mercy um, and I repeat, there’s contact on his jump shot.”

This was not the first time Bickerstaff talked about the fouls his team received in these playoffs. Then, he again talked about how referees do not show respect to Cade Cunningham. He said,

“I mean again, they do let you play more physical. Well, some people get to play more physically. I’ll say that you know, I think these past couple of games it’s kind of hard for me to believe you know, that Cade only gets to the free throw four times as much as he drives and gets to the paint.”

To be fair, in Game 3, the Knicks went 26-29 from the free throw line, while the Pistons went 22-27. Cade got three free throws, while Jalen Brunson got 13. But in Game 4, Brunson got only two free throws, while Cade got four. The Knicks as a team went 11-18 from the free-throw line, while the Pistons went 14-17. So, the teams are relatively even in the free throw department.

Josh Hart Lets the 2-Minute Report Be the Judge, But He Is Wrong

In his post-game interview, Hart talked about the possible foul, saying the last two-minute report should be the judge of it.

But the report says that after a postgame review, they found out Hart made body contact that is more than marginal and a foul should have been called. Well, sadly, we cannot get the game back. The Knicks now go back home with a 3-1 lead over the Pistons.