Josh Hart pulled off a playoff career-high performance tonight at Madison Square Garden with a 26-point explosion to lead the Knicks to a 109-93 win over the Cavaliers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals series.
For a player who had averaged 10.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in the playoffs before tonight, such a performance was a surprise, especially in terms of what the analytics say about Josh Hart: a good defender but not an offensive threat.
Following the game, Josh Hart addressed Mike Brown’s comments, where he compared Hart to Andre Iguodala from his time on the Warriors and said they are both players who needed to ignore analytics to compete. The Knicks guard recalled a hilarious quote from his former college head coach, Jerold ‘Jay’ Wright, which led to a hilarious back-and-forth between him and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Hart: “Iggy was a first off was a hell of a player. I don’t know if I’m at that level, but I just try to go out there and just play my game. Um, I’m never a huge analytics guy.”
“You know, at a certain point, they’re a lamp post to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home. So, at a certain point, you’ve got to have a good feel for the game.”
Towns: “Oh my god.”
Hart: “I’m not gonna lie. That was Jerold Wright’s quote, man. So, shout out to Jay Wright.”
Towns: “Wait, hold up. No, we’re not moving on from that.”
Hart: “That’s a great quote.”
Towns: “Oh my god.”
Hart: “Analytics drunk lame to a drunk. It ain’t going to get you home. I was. You can lean on it, though.”
Towns: “I was with Cal [John Calipari], so I ain’t heard that.”
Hart: “You ain’t even go to college.”
This hilarious exchange between Towns and Hart subsequently went viral on social media. And the key takeaway becomes not to be too reliant on analytics.
Josh Hart hates analytics:
“They’re lamp posts to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home”
KAT couldn’t believe what he said 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/8FDi81GNDC
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) May 22, 2026
But the main highlight for Game 2 remains Josh Hart’s performance for which even Donovan Mitchell gave him his flowers. Mitchell highlighted how Hart benefitted the most from the defensive attention that Jalen Brunson got.
In Game 1, Jalen Brunson capitalized on a defensive hole on the Cavaliers, and in Game 2 as well, it was the lack of defense on Hart that cost them. The game was tied two minutes into the second half, but as soon as Josh Hart found his rhythm in the fourth quarter, it was an uphill battle for the Cavaliers.
After tonight’s performance, Hart’s averages have increased to 11.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 44.7% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc for the 2026 NBA playoffs.
The Knicks are now headed on the road with a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. They will look to win at least one of the next two games in Cleveland to potentially close this series out in a gentleman’s sweep in Game 5 at the Madison Square Garden. But for now, they are scheduled for Game 3 on the day after tomorrow, May 23, Saturday.
