Josh Hart has triple-double as Knicks rout Wizards for eighth straight win
Josh Hart of the Knicks gestures after scoring a three-pointer against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Capital One Arena on Monday in Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Jess Rapfogel
WASHINGTON — It was a year ago to the day that the Knicks shocked the basketball world by completing a deal on Dec. 30, 2023, to obtain OG Anunoby. It transformed the team into a championship contender.
And on this night, the Knicks again put on display that it isn’t that they acquired a superstar — although Anunoby was handed the richest contract in franchise history in the summer — but a player who helped bring the pieces together.
The Knicks ran away from the Wizards on Monday night for their eighth straight victory, 126-106, and there was no need for a 55-point outburst from Jalen Brunson this time as they took turns carrying the team.
Josh Hart again was the energy boost, recording his third triple-double of the season. After scoring 17 points in the second quarter, he matched his season high with 23 points and added 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Anunoby scored 18 points and stabilized the defense. Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 13 rebounds. Brunson scored 18 points and spent much of the late run cheering from the bench and flexing as teammates powered their way to the rim.
The Knicks (23-10) have won 18 of their last 22 games and are a half-game behind second-place Boston in the Eastern Conference.
With the Knicks trailing by seven early in the second quarter, Hart scored his 17 points in a span of just over five minutes, shooting 6-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. That helped the Knicks take a two-point halftime lead.
Anunoby, shedding the tape and brace that he’d been wearing on his right elbow, began to find the range after halftime, shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and scoring 11 points in the third quarter. The Knicks finally were able to open a lead late in the period, and Hart again was at the center of it.
As the Wizards inbounded, Hart stole the ball, starting a fast break that ended with a three-point field goal by Deuce McBride. Hart then leaped to steal an offensive rebound and found Precious Achiuwa for a short jumper, and the Knicks took a 97-88 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I thought a well-balanced attack,” Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought Josh was unbelievable the whole game. And then KAT . . . second half was dominant. But we got good performances from a lot of people . . . Jalen read the game beautifully.”
The Knicks were 20-3 with Anunoby in the lineup in the 2023-24 regular season and 6-2 in the playoffs before he tried to come back for less than five minutes in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Indiana. He was limping badly and unable to run the floor, and he was taken out.
In the games Anunoby missed after the trade last season, the Knicks were 13-14 in the regular season and 1-4 in the playoffs (including that Game 7 loss).
The record says what you are — and 49-15 with Anunoby and 14-18 without him since the trade tells you something happens when he is in the lineup.
“Yeah, it’s been a year now,” Anunoby said. “It’s crazy, time has gone so fast. It doesn’t feel like a year, but it’s been nice. I like my teammates, the fans.”
It might be easy to compare his arrival to the deal that brought Dave DeBusschere to the Knicks ahead of their two championships in 1970 and 1973. It’s not that simple, but the comparison is real. The two players served a similar role, not as the star but as the piece that made all the others work together.
“It’s hard to say because there were a lot of variables,” Thibodeau said. “When OG came in, he basically came in and he got a month and then he was out. So there were a lot of factors that went into it.
“He obviously contributed a lot and made us different, but then we had Mitch [Mitchell Robinson] go out and Isaiah [Hartenstein] stepped in. So there were a lot of factors. Donte [DiVincenzo] stepped into a role. Josh stepped into a role. So there were a lot of things that happened simultaneously.”
“He brings so much to the table night in and night out,” Brunson said of Anunoby.
“It’s like we have a game plan that we’re just trying to go out there and win and we know we have a lot of weapons. We’re going to go from there. We’re going to adjust. That’s everyone’s goal, to win the game.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
