The New York Knicks, for the entire season, have been the third-best team in the Eastern Conference and are expected to be one of the more dangerous teams in the postseason. However, they are not without their faults and have long struggled against the three best teams in the league. 
Recently, captain Jalen Brunson went down with an ankle injury. Before he got hurt, the Knicks had gone 3-7 in their last seven games and have since split the two games he has missed.
In those two games, Josh Hart has averaged 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, and the Knicks need him to lean into an overlooked skill.
Hart is the best rebounding guard in the league by far and is a steady defender, although his passing largely remains overlooked. On the Knicks' roster, he is the second-best facilitator, averaging 5.6 assists per game.
Out of the starters, his 14.2 points per game is the worst, and with Brunson gone, it's easy to ask him to carry more of a scoring load, although he should instead be tasked with running the offense.
"The player who may emerge with even more importance is small forward Josh Hart, who has compiled 5.6 assists and only 2.4 turnovers per game since late January," wrote The Athletic's Law Murray. "Hart isn’t a shoot-first player, but he does everything else, and he could probably handle more of the playmaking while New York’s other scorers step up in Brunson’s stead."
Despite the Knicks' struggles against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder, they are a very good team that has mostly avoided any major injuries this season, and having Hart step up before the postseason should benefit them before they make a deep run.
