Here's what to know and how to tune in to this weekend's NCAAF game between between Ohio State and Michigan.
Josh Hart proving highly effective as Knicks' wild card contributor
The Knicks are a team built on consistency. Jalen Brunson is a sure bet to score efficiently almost every night while manipulating his way into scores via pull-up jumpers. Karl-Anthony Towns has recorded a double-double in all but three games. Mikal Bridges has never missed a game in his eight-year career.
Consistency is great. But every now and then, a wild card that can change the pace or tenor of a game is needed. That wild card for the Knicks is Josh Hart. After a slow start to the season, Hart has come on as of late, and it’s helping the team weather injuries on the perimeter to OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet.
After beginning the season as a reserve, Hart has emerged as a starter, replacing Mitchell Robinson. He brings a jolt of energy to the game with versatility, mad dashes in transition and hustle plays.
The Knicks' 118-109 home win over the Bucks on Friday night propelled the club into the knockout round of the NBA Cup tournament. Hart was everywhere in the victory, notching 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. With Anunoby out, Hart stepped up to take on the Giannis Antetokounmpo defensive assignment despite a severe size deficit.
The performance against the Bucks has been the norm for Hart. His efficiency has picked up as he’s padded the entire stat sheet. In the last 13 games, he's averaging 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He has also found the range, shooting 40.1 percent from beyond the arc during that time.
On the rebound
Hart’s had his ups and downs from outside throughout his career. He still needs to be aggressive as a scorer to keep defenses honest. Teams will sag off him even more if he’s not, mucking up driving lanes for Brunson and Towns.
He has shot better so far this season, but Hart is a career 34.2 percent three-point shooter. To weaken the Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll, many opponents put a wing on Towns while hiding their center on Hart.
In Friday's win, the Bucks had Myles Turner guard Hart down the stretch while Antetokounmpo checked Towns. The Knicks looked to bring Turner into every Brunson pick-and-roll. As the Bucks blitzed Brunson, it allowed Hart to attack in the short roll. He had a couple of good opportunities to create. One key play was Hart finding Miles McBride for an open corner three out of a short roll.
Hart’s first four games were a struggle -- he scored just 11 points on 4-for-19 shooting. During the spell, he was out of sorts, passing up open looks.
It’s not a shock that Hart played poorly to begin the season. A back injury kept him out for most of the preseason and the season opener. Anerve injury in his right hand has also been a setback. The start of this season was an adjustment for Hart, who was coming off the bench. He started all 77 games he played in last year.
One of head coach Mike Brown’s goals with the Knicks was to get them to play faster and create easier scoring opportunities. Hart’s ability to push the pace is an underrated skill that the Knicks could use more often. They average 16.1 fastbreak points per 100 possessions when Hart is on the floor, versus just 12.8 fastbreak points per 100 possessions when he sits, per NBA Stats.
After the Knicks' starting five of Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, Hart and Towns crumbled in the playoffs last year, the group has looked better so far in the new season. In 40 minutes, this five-man unit is plus-24.2 points per 100 possessions, per NBA Stats. With the added playmaking from Hart, it might make sense to revisit the starting lineup permanently once Anunoby returns.
Hart can go into prolonged shooting slumps, pile up careless turnovers and make questionable decisions. But he’s been consistently effective over the past month. If Hart continues to play this well, it will be hard to keep him out of the starting five going forward.
Ohio State star WRs Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate expected to play vs. Michigan
Ohio State star receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are expected to be available for today's rivalry game at Michigan.
Indiana finishes regular season with exclamation point. Now come the questions
Whatever happens in Big Ten championship game or the CFP, this season has changed so much about Indiana for the foreseeable future. Maybe for good.
Kings get two regular-season games added to schedule after NBA Cup results
Kings get two regular-season games added to schedule after NBA Cup results originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
More Kings basketball is on the way.
The NBA added two regular-season games to Sacramento’s schedule next month following the results of the Emirates NBA Cup.
First, the Kings will host the Denver Nuggets at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday, Dec. 11 at Golden 1 Center. Then they will head to Minnesota three nights later for a matchup with the Timberwolves at 4 p.m. PT on Sunday, Dec. 14.
Sacramento went 0-4 in Cup action in West Group A, having lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz.
Entering Friday’s game against the Jazz, the Kings already were eliminated from advancing in the Cup. They fell to Utah 128-119 and now hold a 5-15 record.
The reigning NBA champion Thunder have a flawless 4-0 record in group play.
After Friday, the eight teams that will advance are set: Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns.
From this point on, it’s a single-elimination tournament featuring the eight remaining teams.
Canadiens Face Blast From The Past In Colorado
The Montreal Canadiens are in Denver today to take on the Colorado Avalanche, one of the league's hottest teams. Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the scoring race with 39 points in just 23 games, while linemates Martin Necas (30 points) and Artturi Lehkonen (21 points) are also flying high. As always, Cale Makar leads all defensemen in points with 30, seven points ahead of his nearest pursuer, Josh Morrissey.
After making way for Samuel Montembeault for Friday afternoon’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Jakub Dobes will be back in the Habs’ net this afternoon. The Czech rookie faced the Colorado Avalanche once in his young career, his second game last January. The netminder was named the first star of the match after backstopping the Habs to a 2-1 shootout win, stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced in regulation and the two shots he faced in the shootout, finishing the night with a .957 save percentage. This is the kind of play the Sainte-Flanelle will need from him on Saturday afternoon.
Canadiens Shock Golden Knights In Vegas
What Should The Canadiens Be Willing To Give For Ryan O’Reilly?
Canadiens Sign Mike Matheson To Long-Term Extension
The offence will have its work cut out for it, too, since the Avalanche are getting some of the best goaltending in the league this season. The tandem formed by Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood has been firing on all cylinders. The former has a .918 SV while the latter has an impressive .928 SV.
In fact, Wedgewood is doing so well that he’s been mentioned as a goaltending possibility for Team Canada at the Olympics. The national side must think outside the box, given that Adin Hill is injured and both Montembeault and Jordan Binnington are struggling this season.
However, Wedgewood, who has played most of the Avalanche game this season, has only faced the Habs once and came out on the losing end of the duel with a 4.45 GAA and a .778 SV. That could have been encouraging news for the Canadiens, but Blackwood’s record against the Habs is almost flawless. He’s 5-0-2 against the Sainte-Flanelle and has a 2.47 GAA and a .922 SV. Since Wedgewood was in the net on Friday against the Minnesota Wild, expect Blackwood to be in the crease on Saturday.
The Avalanche are 6-3-1 in the last 10 duels between the two sides, and they’ve won the last one, a 5-4 shootout win last March while Montembeault was in net, allowing four goals on 37 shots. Colorado was riding a ten-game winning streak until it lost 3-2 in the shootout to the Wild on Friday night.
The Canadiens will need to keep a close eye on scoring race leader Nathan MacKinnon, the center has seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 19 games against the Habs. As for former Canadiens player Lehkonen, he’s got five points in as many games against his former team, while stud defenseman Makar has 10 points in just nine duels with the Sainte-Flanelle.
Up front for the Canadiens, Cole Caufield will look to extend his point streak to at least 7; he has two goals and five assists over the last six games. The sniper has only four points in six games against Saturday afternoon’s hosts, and now would be a good time to increase that production. As for Zachary Bolduc, who has five points in the last two games, he’s got three goals in five duels with the Avs and will be eager to keep his own point streak going. Meanwhile, captain Nick Suzuki has nine points in as many games against Colorado.
Puck drop is set for 3:00 PM and you can catch the game on ALT, TSN2, RDS.
After the duel, Montreal will be making its way back home and will enjoy a deserved day off on Sunday before getting back to work in Brossard with a practice scheduled for 10:30 AM on Monday in readiness for the duel with the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Center on Tuesday night.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Three takeaways: Strong start may have doomed Panthers, who left way too much meat on the bone
It’s been a rough holiday week for the Florida Panthers.
Over the past few days, the Panthers have lost consecutive games on home ice for the first time this season, a pair of defeats that that bookend the Thanksgiving holiday.
Florida was outscored 9-5 in losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and Calgary Flames, with the latter defeat stinging a bit more due to the combination of familiar faces on the Flames bench and the poor record they arrived in Sunrise with.
Now the Cats get a few days to lick their wounds and figure out how to get back on the winning side of things.
Let’s get to Friday’s takeaways:
OVERCONFIDENT?
Things felt like they were going Florida’s way early in this one.
Before the first period was three minutes old, the Panthers already had a multi-goal lead.
Those two goals were on the team’s first two shots, but Florida failed to build on their momentum and instead allowed Calgary to get the game back to even by the second TV timeout.
For a team like Calgary that has struggled for much of the season but only recently started to find some consistency, they saw a window of opportunity to pounce on the Panthers and boy did they take it.
“When you score two like that, you think you're going to just generate all you want, and when that doesn't happen, you get some frustration built into your game,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “We didn't move the puck very easily tonight, but the expectation that we should isn't realistic. We would have to closer support, and probably suffer the things that frustrate us a little bit a little bit differently, a little change in mindset on what our expectations are every time we touch the puck.”
TOO MUCH MEAT ON BONE
Scoring three goals on 40 shots is usually a recipe for victory.
Three goals isn’t a ton, but recaching the 40-shot milestone generally indicates a night where you possessed the puck quite a bit, or at least enough to make a three-goal output stand up.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, that was not the case on Friday afternoon.
Flames goaltender Devin Cooley was outstanding, stopping eight of Florida’s 10 high danger shots and holding them to just the three goals on a day there the Panthers’ expected goals was 5.96.
It didn’t help that 31 of Florida’s shot attempts were blocked on their way to the net.
“We got 85 shot attempts. It's fine. You get 39 to the net, but you've left an awful lot of zone time,” said Maurice. “Some are good blocks. Their team gets paid too, and we have to be mindful of that. And then I thought, maybe two areas: There were one on one battles where we weren't quite as good as we will need to be to expect to win a game, and then a little slowness in our offensive game.”
GOOD TIME FOR DAYS OFF
After dropping back-to-back contests on home ice, the Panthers will get three days between games to (as their starting goaltender would say) reset, regroup and refocus.
While you never want to go into a period of off time on a down note, the positive is that this will give Maurice and his staff a chance to break down the areas they feel the team is struggling and deliver those adjustments to the team.
“You've got to take the chances that you have to recover, but at the same time, we got a whole bunch of stuff we got to work on and get better, so this will be a good chance for us to do that,” Maurice said.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
Panthers can't build on quick start, lose 5-3 to suddenly surging Flame
Panthers continue season-long homestand against lowly Flames
Aaron Ekblad Avoids Injury; Will Suit Up On Friday For Panthers
Late goals doom Panthers in 4-2 loss to Philadelphia
Photo caption: Nov 28, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Calgary Flames goaltender Devin Cooley (1) makes a save against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Former Lakers star Anthony Davis makes long-awaited return to L.A. after trade
The Lakers’ new big man went to the free-throw line. The team’s former big man was on the mind of fans.
“I miss you, AD!” a Lakers fan shouted into the silence as Deandre Ayton prepared to shoot a free throw in the first quarter Friday.
Former Lakers star Anthony Davis played his first game in L.A. since being traded to the Mavericks last season, finishing with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots in the Lakers' 129-119 win at Crypto.com Arena.
He had an emphatic one-handed block on a shot by former teammate LeBron James in the fourth quarter, but didn’t hold any satisfaction in the play. The Mavericks lost for the fifth time in six games.
“I get pleasure in winning,” a subdued Davis said.
The Lakers (14-4) won their sixth consecutive game, securing home-court advantage for the NBA Cup tournament quarterfinals. The Lakers will host the San Antonio Spurs, who won West Group C, on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.
Read more:Austin Reaves helps Lakers and Luka Doncic notch win over Mavericks
The Mavericks (5-15) lost their third straight as the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to L.A. has only become more lopsided in the 10 months since it shocked the NBA.
Doncic had 35 points and 11 assists for the Lakers. Former Laker guard Max Christie, who was also involved in the trade, had 13 points and has become a starter for the Mavericks.
After two emotional matchups against his former team last year, Doncic said some of the feelings have subsided, but games against Dallas will always have special meaning for him.
Friday’s game was a well-timed return for Davis, who played in his first game after missing a month because of a calf strain. The injury stretched for weeks as the Mavericks fell into the basement of the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have the second-best record in the West. Doncic leads the league in scoring with 35.1 points per game.
Doncic’s continued ascent to superstardom and Davis’ growing injury list has only made the trade more bitter for Mavericks fans. They got their form of revenge when general manager Nico Harrison was fired on Nov. 11, but the change only signaled a new low for the franchise that went to the NBA Finals two seasons ago.
Now the player who was supposed to help fill the void left by Doncic has been included in trade rumors. The Mavericks went 3-11 without Davis.
To ensure Davis stayed in a positive mental state during the time of turmoil for the franchise, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd encouraged him to simply stay focused on getting healthy.
“The train keeps moving,” Kidd said. “No matter of a trade or a dismissal, you got to keep moving. And so for AD, [it] was to focus on his body, come back healthy. … Can't get everything solved in 24 minutes tonight, but as we go forward, we feel like we have a chance to win when he's in uniform.”
Read more:Lakers takeaways: What the Lakers are looking for as LeBron James rounds into form
Davis was on a 24- to 27-minute limit Friday. To adhere to the restriction, he had to leave the game with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter with the Mavericks trailing by three points.
Leaving the court hurt, Davis said. He had gotten two blocks, an assist and a basket during the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, then the Lakers went on a 9-1 run after Davis went to the bench.
To Kidd, Davis is still one of the best in the world when he is healthy. The coach pointed to Davis’ impressive play in the Paris Olympics when he averaged 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the field.
The Lakers didn’t need to be reminded of Davis’ talent. Coach JJ Redick said Davis would get the respect that all star players deserve because of his versatile skill set. But more than the shots he blocked or baskets he scored with the Lakers, Redick valued Davis for his support during Redick’s first year as a head coach.
“Very grateful that I had buy-in from him coming in Day 1 never had coached before,” Redick said. “So, it’s one of those things like you’re rooting for certain guys. … There are certain teammates you had, there’s always going to be guys that I coached [who] I either root for them after they are not your teammate and they are not one of your players. Just not when they play against us. Not tonight.”
The Lakers played a tribute video last year when Davis was sidelined because of an abdominal injury for his first game back after the trade. Fans showered him with cheers when he was introduced in the starting lineup Friday. James playfully bumped Davis at the center of the court before the game, then they did the same intricate handshake they performed before games as teammates.
After the game, Lakers players lined up to hug Davis. Austin Reaves, who dominated with 38 points on 12-for-15 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists, gave him a two-armed bear hug. Davis grabbed the strap of his jersey and pointed toward Reaves.
“I always liked his game, what he was able to do,” Davis said of Reaves. “Just now he’s doing it on a more consistent basis, putting up elite numbers. … He’s a player who I always knew could play to this level.”
Reaves left the Lakers locker room with Davis’ blue No. 3 jersey signed by his former teammate.
“He's one of the best players to ever touch a basketball. I don't know why he wanted my jersey,” Reaves said. “But for me to get his, it's pretty fun. … From Day 1, he was telling me to be myself, don't be anybody else. Continue to work and really be myself on the court. So I owe him a lot.”
Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Warriors get two regular-season games added to schedule after NBA Cup results
Warriors get two regular-season games added to schedule after NBA Cup results originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Get ready for more Warriors basketball, Dub Nation.
Two games were added to Golden State’s 2025-26 NBA schedule due to the results of the Emirates NBA Cup action.
First, the Warriors will host the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 12 at Chase Center. Two nights later, they’ll head to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers at 6 p.m. PT on Dec. 14 at Moda Center.
Golden State fell 104-100 against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Chase Center in the NBA Cup finale. With the Memphis Grizzlies’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans earlier that day, both the Warriors and Rockets were eliminated from the cup before their game ended.
The Warriors are 10-10 on the season and have lost four of their last five contests.
They’ll look to get back in the win column when they host the Pelicans (3-16) on Saturday at Chase Center.
Ex-Blackhawks Forward Enjoying Monster Hot Streak
The Tampa Bay Lightning extended their winning streak to six games with their 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 28. Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Hagel chipped in during Tampa Bay's win, as he scored a goal.
With his goal against the Red Wings, Hagel extended his ongoing goal and point streaks to four games. Over that span, he has recorded six goals, 10 points, and a plus-9 rating. With this, there is no question that the former Blackhawks forward is feeling it right now in a big way.
With his ongoing hot streak, Hagel has now recorded 13 goals, 12 assists, 25 points, and a plus-13 rating in 23 games so far this season with the Lightning. When noting that the former Blackhawk started the year with only one assist in seven games, it is clear that the former Blackhawk has bounced back from his ice-cold start.
Hagel spent three seasons with the Blackhawks from 2019-20 to 2021-22. In 108 games with the Blackhawks over that span, he recorded 30 goals, 31 assists, and 61 points. His time with the Blackhawks ended during the 2021-22 campaign when he was traded to the Bolts.
If we are witnessing the death spiral of the cult of Bazball, let’s savour what it created | Barney Ronay
There have been many good points – challenging orthodoxies and Ben Stokes talking openly about male emotions – and even when it was bad, it was unignorable
The Life Cycle of a Cult
1. The Big Idea. A charismatic leader or leaders propose a new and transcendent idea that promises a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.
So here we are then. They’re getting ready to storm the compound down in Brisbane. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. A lone figure, naked, shivering, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT smeared across his chest in chicken blood, has come staggering through the lines and is being led away under a blanket towards an inconclusive loan stint at Derbyshire.
Continue reading...Trent Mosley puts on a show to help Santa Margarita win Division 1 championship
Coach Carson Palmer gets the star receiver the ball on every Eagles play in the first quarter on a night when he had 292 yards receiving and scored four times.
Austin Reaves helps Lakers and Luka Doncic notch win over Mavericks
The story still was about Lakers superstar Luka Doncic and Dallas star Anthony Davis, who were part of one of the NBA’s most infamous trades. They forever will be linked after the Mavericks shocked the basketball universe last February by shipping generational talent Doncic to the Lakers in a deal for multitalented Davis.
On Friday night, however, Doncic shared the spotlight with Austin Reaves, who continues to be a shining star for the Lakers.
They combined for 73 points during the Lakers’ 129-119 win over the Mavericks, and it was Reaves holding down the leading scorer spot over backcourt running mate Doncic.
Reaves was efficient with his work in scoring 38 points, going 12 for 15 from the field and six for eight from three-point range to go with eight rebounds.
The fans even chanted “M-V-P!" when Reaves shot two free throws midway through the fourth quarter, a sign of how dominant he was.
“I finally made the threes, so that was nice,” Reaves said. “Like you said, Luka draws so much attention. [LeBron James[ obviously [is] Bron and they are gonna get the majority of attention. I kind of run around out there and find open spots and make shots, hopefully big shots, and [I] sort of done [that] the last of the night.”
Doncic also was efficient in dropping 35 points on his old Mavericks teammates, going 10 for 17 from the field, four for nine from three-point range, and making all 11 of his free throws.
Doncic also had 11 assists and five rebounds to help the Lakers push their winning streak to six.
The emotions of playing the Mavericks aren’t as raw as they were the first time Doncic played in Dallas, but he admitted that he still has fond feelings for the franchise.
"I would say it's a little bit easier now,” Doncic said. “But like I said, games against Dallas always have some special meaning to me. I still have a lot of friends there. It's always special. It'll always be special for me."
The Lakers improved to 4-0 in NBA Cup Group B play and clinched home-court advantage in the quarterfinals. They will host the San Antonio Spurs on Dec 10.
Before the Lakers play in that NBA Cup game, they have back-to-back games here, Sunday against the Pelicans and Monday against the Suns, and then travel to Toronto, Boston and Philadelphia before returning home for the single-elimination game against the Spurs.
“Yeah, just, I mean, you want to win the games regardless, whether they're for the Cup or not,” Reaves said. “Just to have the best record that you can.”
Davis, who returned after missing 14 games because of a left calf strain, scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists in his first game in Los Angeles since the trade.
Deandre Ayton, who missed the Lakers' game against the Clippers on Tuesday because of a right knee contusion, had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the draft, had 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
Court change
The Lakers didn’t use their special NBA Cup court during their group stage game against the Mavericks after the team flagged concerns that it was too slippery.
After the Lakers debuted the special yellow court Tuesday in a win over the Clippers, Doncic said during his postgame news conference that the floor was dangerously slippery. The team reported the problem to the league, and technicians from the court vendor determined the surface was unplayable for the group stage finale, according to a team spokesperson.
The court could be repaired and available in time for the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The colorful NBA Cup courts were designed to help set the in-season tournament apart from other regular-season games. The Lakers played their first two NBA Cup games on the road — in Memphis and New Orleans — and Doncic did not remember having a problem with courts in those games, but it became immediately clear during pregame warmups Tuesday that the Lakers’ bright yellow NBA Cup court presented issues.
"Yeah, and I really appreciate the Lakers and the league,” Doncic said. “They did us a favor. I was talking about it, so I really appreciate both of them, just changing the court and (so we can) stay healthy."
For Ayton, who missed the previous game against the Clippers because of a bruised right knee, his return was more than about his 17 points and eight rebounds.
He was mostly impressed by the way Reaves performed.
“He was making some tough buckets, man, like some mean, aggressive buckets under the rim where us trees (big men) were down there and he was making some tough baskets,” Ayton said. “I’m just like, ‘You a dawg.’ I’m running back telling him, ‘You a dawg. Like, you are making some tough baskets.’ You just got to take your hat off to him. I”ve been seeing it since I got here.”
Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Knicks Notes: Josh Hart making case to stick in lineup, Mitchell Robinson and Tyler Kolek impressing off the bench
Maybe wins against the Hornets and Nets earlier this week didn’t do it for you. But Josh Hart’s play in the Knicks’ win over Milwaukee on Friday has to move the needle toward keeping him in the starting lineup.
Hart was everywhere on Friday -- Guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo. Pushing the ball in transition. Play-making as a release to the double-teams on Jalen Brunson. Rebounding the ball.
It was a prototypical Hart game.
If his play in the starting lineup continues, Mike Brown may have to think long and hard about making a permanent change.
Brown in the last three games has gone with Karl-Anthony Towns at center, Mitchell Robinson off the bench and Hart in the lineup.
Hart is averaging seven assists and 12 rebounds per game in that span.
Again, you can brush off those numbers when they come against the Hornets and Nets, but in a highly competitive game against Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Hart’s performance was crucial.
“He played well on both sides of the ball. He’s in a good rhythm right now,” Brunson said after the game. “Just need him to stick with that. He’s a key part, an X-factor in what we do.”
Speaking of lineups, Brown sounds like a coach who wants to see more of Robinson off the bench.
Earlier in the season, Brown seemed to favor starting Robinson alongside Towns, but the big man has come off the bench in each of his last two games.
“I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far,” Brown said after Robinson’s six points, seven rebounds and two steals off the bench Friday.
“Mitch has given us a great punch off the bench. His ability to offensive rebound against starters and backups has been huge for us. So he has to keep bringing that to the table. So he gives us a different look in the starting lineup and then gives us a different look when he comes off the bench.”
The guess here is that Robinson will continue to come off the bench if everyone is healthy.
When everyone does return, though, the big question for Brown will be whether to keep Hart in the starting lineup over options such as Landry Shamet and Miles McBride.
MVP TALK FOR BRUNSON
Brunson had 37 points on 21 shots on Friday night. He was on fire in the third quarter (16 points, 7-8 FG's) then made all the right reads in the fourth quarter when Milwaukee sent a second defender at him.
He has scored 27 or more points in each of the past seven games.
“He should be talked about right now -- it’s early -- but as a potential MVP,” Brown said after the game. “There’s not enough chatter which -- it’s early -- so I’m not throwing a fit -- but the guy had 37 tonight on 12-of-21. And he gets blitzed often and he makes the right basketball play. He basically did what he was supposed to do and that’s why I don’t talk about it a lot because that’s what he’s capable of doing and that’s what he’s supposed to do being of that stature.
“But hopefully you guys and your peers will start really talking the right way about this young man in terms of him having some MVP talk because that’s what he is,” Brown said, referring to the media. “We’re not playing the best basketball right now but we’re trending in the right direction and he’s the engine behind it So to me, he just did what he’s supposed to do, which equates to him being the MVP of the league.”
Brown also praised another Knick point guard on Friday -- he likes what he’s seen from Tyler Kolek lately.
Kolek had five points (all off of Hart assists), two steals and an assist in 10 minutes against Milwaukee.
This continues a strong week overall for the youngster who chipped in five assists and three rebounds against Brooklyn, then seven points and three assists against Charlotte.
“I didn’t play him as much as I wanted to tonight but the last two games when he’s gotten minutes, he’s been really good defensively,” Brown said. “He’s been really physical without fouling. He’s been really good pushing the basketball and distributing the basketball while getting us into our offense. I expect nothing but that from him and again I wished I’d played him a little longer because again, (he’s) on a pretty good run.”
After Texas’ big win over Texas A&M, get ready for a relentless media blitz to get Longhorns in the College Football Playoff
The airwaves are about to be flooded with a desperate attempt to get the three-loss Longhorns into the College Football Playoff. But do they really deserve it?