The Knicks and 76ers are opening up NBA preseason action in Abu Dhabi with a pair of games Thursday and Saturday as part of the league’s expanding global reach. These are two teams that could very well meet in the playoffs — perhaps even the Eastern Conference Final — if both sides stay healthy enough. But health has been an issue for both teams in the last few years, and Thursday afternoon was no different.
In the early minutes of the second quarter, Knicks guard Josh Hart went to corral a rebound off a missed 3-pointer from Sixers rookie Johni Broome. Hart fell to the ground shortly after getting the rebound, and a jump ball was called after Sixers’ Kennedy Chandler tied up the ball with Hart. As the official called for the jump ball, Hart, threw the ball into the air across the court and was writhing in pain as it appeared he tweaked his back in the midst of it all. Though Hart appeared to toss the ball in frustration, the official gave Hart a technical foul and decided it was grounds for an immediate ejection, too.
Here’s how it played out:
It’s a pretty head-scratching situation given Hart was injured on the play and appeared to throw the ball as a way to get Chandler away from him while he was in pain. But the official clearly didn’t view it that way. Hart limped back to the locker room after getting off the floor and will surely be evaluated in the near future.
After the 99-84 loss, Knicks coach Mike Brown said that Hart has lower back soreness and will see how he feels tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s game.
“I didn’t see him go down, I just saw him down and he looked like he was in considerable pain,” Brown said. “But he’s day-to-day and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Sixers coach Nick Nurse had a front row seat to Hart’s injury, as it all happened right in front of Philly’s bench.
“I thought something really bad happened,” Nurse said. “He wasn’t in a collision, it was on his own I think, those always are scary. He was in a lot of pain. I don’t know what the verdict was. Let’s hope it’s not serious, but I did think it was…
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