Knicks' Josh Hart Reacts to Controversial Play

“Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him," Hart said, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. "Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll see in the Last Two-Minute Report.”

The late incident marred an otherwise strong day for Hart, who paired a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double with five assists. Hart was 3-of-5 from deep, including 2-of-3 in a first half that saw the Knicks go up by as much as 16 before Detroit rallied in the third period.

Hart has been a mainstay on the L2M Reports in this series so far. Of note, the Association ruled that Hart should've gotten a chance at a go-ahead free throw when he slammed home a late equalizer in Game 2 of the series, Detroit's lone win in the best-of-seven set to date.

Hart may well have some vindication when Game 4's ledger is released on Monday: prior to Hardaway's memorable miss, Hart was more or less wrangled by Tobias Harris to prevent him from cleanly getting the rebound off Cade Cunningham's unsuccessful mid-range try, which allowed the ball to get to Hardaway and indirectly set up the controversy.

Even with questions surrounding his supposed supposed defensive heroics, Hart had a backer in head coach Tom Thibodeau, who praised the veteran's all-out attitude for kickstarting the Knicks' latest emotional triumph.

“That’s what Josh does and they are always timely plays,” Thibodeau said, per Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “Whether it’s an offensive rebound, a defensive rebound in traffic, a hustle play where he just comes up with a loose ball. He’s everywhere and you need that mindset. When things weren’t going our way, they said ‘Keep fighting, keep fighting.’ You win with your toughness and discipline down the stretch.”