Knicks have a Josh Hart problem: How opening night exposed an ongoing weak point in New York’s offense | Sporting News

The Celtics showed in the NBA’s opening game on Tuesday that in order to beat them, an opponent has to have a nearly flawless performance. The Knicks didn’t play as poorly as the final score indicated in a 132-109 rout that got out of hand quickly after Boston’s barrage of 3’s. But they also showed some serious flaws that teams will exploit throughout the season. 

Among those issues, the Knicks’ inability to stop the Celtics was concerning. Mikal Bridges’ jump shot didn’t look right. But the most glaring weak point was how the Celtics chose to guard Josh Hart. It’s a strategy that will be replicated by a ton of teams throughout the season, and the Knicks need to find a solution for it. 

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Josh Hart was the weak point for the Knicks’ offense

The Celtics started off Tuesday’s game by putting center Al Horford on Josh Hart. Horford essentially ignored Hart, leaving him wide open to bring help onto other Knicks. Boston repeated the same strategy when backup center Luke Kornet came in, completely clogging New York’s spacing. 

The Knicks have a Josh Hart problem. Celtics threw their centers on him and ignored him throughout the game. pic.twitter.com/zCsnzv3NLh

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) October 23, 2024

Hart has had stretches of great shooting where he’s been willing to let it fly. He shot a stellar 37.3 percent during the playoffs last season. But he’s also had confidence issues with that shot, passing open a ton of open looks, and he hit only 31.0 percent of his 3’s during last year’s regular season.

That lack of faith in his shot was on full display on Tuesday, where he went 0-of-2 from deep and stalled the offense when he got the ball on the perimeter. 

The Knicks had to know that this was coming. They did try some effective things to make Hart a contributor on offense despite his lack of shooting. With no one paying attention to him, he was able to cut to the basket for an easy layup. He crashed the glass hard. He did his usual one-man fast break routine. And he was a good screener and passer in pick-and-rolls, which allowed him to work inside the arc. 

The Knicks wanted to mimic the Celtics’ five-out offense, where all five players are stationed outside the 3-point line. That has led to Boston’s unstoppable offense, and it’s being implemented more and more throughout the league. The problem for New York is that it doesn’t have the shooters Boston does. This is where the Knicks were badly missing recently traded gunner Donte DiVincenzo. 

Tom Thibodeau may have to pivot from that five-out approach. Hart was more effective when he was at the dunker spot, closer to the rim. He’s much more of a threat to score there when defenses ignore him.  

The Knicks can still be a great offense without playing a five-out style. If they do want to try that strategy, then they may have to trade for one more shooter, sacrifice size and promote Deuce McBride into the starting lineup, or hope that Hart’s streaky shot comes back.

Until they figure out what change that they want to make, teams will keep on putting their center on Hart. They can be a good team, but not good enough to beat the Celtics with that strategy.