Knicks’ Josh Hart questionable for Game 6 against Hawks with lower back contusion

New York Knicks forward Josh Hart is listed as questionable for Game 6 of the team’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night with a lower back contusion.

Hart played 30 minutes in New York’s dominant Game 5 win, scoring 9 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. But after subbing out with 6:27 to go in the fourth quarter, he went back to the Knicks locker room and did not return to the bench before the end of the game. Head coach Mike Brown did not have an update on the injury or Hart’s status during his postgame press conference.

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After suffering a back injury in New York’s first preseason game, Hart missed the remainder of the Knicks’ exhibition slate and their regular-season opener with back spasms. He came off the bench for the first month after his return, as Brown managed his minutes and explored several different options — center Mitchell Robinson, guards Miles McBride and Landry Shamet — for the fifth spot in New York’s starting lineup alongside entrenched starters Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.

When he returned to the starting lineup just before Thanksgiving, though, Hart didn’t skip a beat. The 31-year-old averaged 12.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the rest of the season, shooting 57% on 2-pointers and 43% from 3-point range. The Knicks went 36-16 in Hart’s starts — a 57-win pace.

Hart has struggled with his shot against Atlanta, shooting just 37% from the field and 3-for-19 (15.8%) from long distance. He’s made his presence felt elsewhere, though. He’s grabbing 10 rebounds per game, including 29% of available defensive rebounds — the fourth-highest defensive rebounding rate of anyone to play at least 100 minutes in this postseason, behind only Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama and Towns — to go with 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals in his 34.8 minutes per game.

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Hart has also played an integral role for a New York defense that has held the Hawks to 107.6 points per 100 possessions, the fourth-lowest offensive rating in these 2026 NBA playoffs.

He started out the series on…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/knicks-josh-hart-questionable-for-game-6-against-hawks-with-lower-back-contusion-150923468.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-04-30 15:09:00

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