Josh Hart confident shots will fall again in Game 2 for Knicks after late benching

Benched in the fourth quarter and overtime of Game 1 for Landry Shamet, Josh Hart watched the Knicks’ historic 22-point Eastern Conference finals comeback unfold from the sideline. Now, at Wednesday’s practice, he insisted his approach hasn’t changed—humility,

The hard part wasn’t the deficit or the noise coming from Madison Square Garden.

It was the view from the bench.

Josh Hart watched the Knicks’ greatest postseason comeback in franchise history unfold in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals—a 22-point rally that ended with New York stunned into disbelief. Hart had a T-shirt over his jersey and a towel over his shoulders after being benched in the fourth quarter and overtime for Landry Shamet.

“That’s always difficult, watching it on the bench,” Hart said after Wednesday’s practice. “Obviously, I want to be out there. I want to help my guys win, but at the end of the day, for me, I don’t have an ego to it. I approach this game with extreme humility.

“I’m here to serve these guys … [to] make sure they’re in the best position to be successful. I put the success of the team over the success of myself any day.”

On the sideline, his enthusiasm didn’t disappear. When Shamet hit from deep, Hart was there, celebrating each of Shamet’s 3-pointers that helped fuel the historic victory.

But when it came to Hart’s own shot, the postseason math didn’t work in Game 1. Mike Brown had little choice but to emphasize shooting and spacing after Hart badly missed multiple 3-pointers. Hart went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc and posted a team-worst minus-23 rating while Cleveland left him open on the perimeter.

Shamet, in contrast, made each of his three 3-pointers, finishing with a team-best plus-20 rating.

Hart isn’t pretending Game 1 didn’t happen. He’s simply betting that the same looks can fall differently in the next game.

Hart shot a career-best 41.3 percent of 3-pointers this season, but he has only gone 26.7 percent in the playoffs. Ahead of Game 2, he expects the Cavaliers to keep daring him from deep.

“For them, this is the same game plan that put them up [22]. … So they’re probably gonna do the exact same thing,” Hart said. “I’m gonna shoot the exact same shots. I’m gonna shoot it with confidence, play my game.

“I shot good shots. I just didn’t make them … I’m gonna continue to shoot. I’m working incredibly hard on my shots.”

Wednesday’s practice gave that promise a soundtrack: the sound of corner 3s from a player determined not to let one night define him. Hart was back at it during the session, taking numerous corner 3-pointers in the brief window open to the media.

At one point, he hit eight straight—six that touched nothing but net, and two that barely nudged iron before dropping through.

Game 2 will be more than a driving-range good mood. It’s at the Garden, and Cleveland will bring the same willingness to leave Hart open, based on what happened in Game 1.

Still, Brown expects Hart’s impact to show up again.

Brown pointed to a similar moment from earlier in the postseason, when Mikal Bridges was benched in the first round. He said that sacrifice—plus the readiness that came with it—turned into real impact rather than a setback.

“When you are in the position that Josh was in or Mikal was in in the Atlanta series … they sacrificed their minutes willingly and they were great about it while keeping themselves ready,” Brown said. “Mikal was fantastic … and I don’t see anything different from Josh going forward.”

So while Hart sat through the fourth quarter and overtime with a towel over his shoulders, he’s carrying that same message into Game 2: serve the team, keep shooting, and let the next make come from the same place the last misses did.

Josh Hart Knicks Cavaliers Game 2 Eastern Conference finals Landry Shamet Mike Brown Jalen Brunson Mikal Bridges Madison Square Garden playoffs 3-pointers