Knicks' Tom Thibodeau Laughs Off Josh Hart Fight

It's hard to find drama in a one-sided NBA game, but the New York Knicks perhaps achieved the impossible.

The Knicks dismantled the Atlanta Hawks by a 121-105 final that was hardly as close as the final margin indicated. Among the statistical standouts was Josh Hart, who posted a 16-point, 11-assists double-double, pairing those offensive tallies with four steals.

Alas for Hart's metropolitan legacy, head coach Tom Thibodeau removed him from the game before he could reach a new New York landmark: at the time of his exit, Hart was one rebound away from his 10th triple-double of the season. Thibodeau joked in the aftermath that the decision to remove Hart weighed heavily on him, as there were no right answers when it came to the humored reactions of the animated two-way man.

"Obviously, for me that’s a no-win situation, because if I leave him, in he’s going to be upset about that,” Thibodeau said with a smirk, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "If I take him out, he’s going to be upset about that. So I said, ‘Ah, what the hell? I’ll take him out.’”

Hart already owns the record for most triple-doubles in a single Knicks season, taking sole possession of the mark away from Walt "Clyde" Frazier just about two weeks ago. Had Hart earned one last board, however, he would've tied Richie Guerin for the third-most in Knicks history overall at 16.

Hart, however, quickly made peace with Thibodeau's decision, saying that he'll earn on the magic triple-double on another night when he truly "deserves" it."

"I wanted to stay in to get the last one, but I wasn’t playing the game the right way,” Hart said, per Bondy. “I was trying to play for that. I didn’t really deserve it, and that’s probably why I didn’t get it. I was playing the game the wrong way at that point, so it is what it is.”

Knicks historians nonetheless had their moment at the final buzzer: Saturday's win was the 225th of Thobideau's Knicks career, one that allowed him to move past Pat Riley for the fourth-most in Knicks history. Hart paid tribute to his coach's "dope" accomplishment and legacy.

"It’s a tribute to the talent that he has in terms of coaching and success,” Hart said, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “It also shows the stability the franchise has with him — and needs with him. A great accomplishment, and hopefully we keep going up ... The preparation, his dedication to excellence and the process, he doesn’t believe winning starts at 7:30 when the game starts. He believes winning starts in the summer.”