There’s a new streak in the Knicks’ locker room — and it doesn’t belong to Jalen Brunson. Or Karl-Anthony Towns. Or any of the team’s star scorers.
It belongs to Josh Hart.
Hart has made nine consecutive 3-pointers over his last three games — a perfect stretch from deep that none of his star-studded teammates can claim. One-for-one against the Golden State Warriors. Five-for-five against the Indiana Pacers. Three-for-three in Sunday’s rout of the Washington Wizards.
Three games. No misses. Not even the Knicks’ best shooters can say that.
Brunson has gone two straight games without a missed three — but in one of those, he didn’t take a shot from deep. Mikal Bridges strung together six straight 3s to close out the New Orleans Pelicans in Games 5 and 6 of the 2022 Western Conference Finals. Towns, a career 40% shooter and former 3-Point Contest champion, has never gone perfect from deep in back-to-back games, let alone three straight. Neither have OG Anunoby, Landry Shamet or Jordan Clarkson.
Which is what made the question feel necessary, and Hart’s ensuing response both predictable and telling.
DAILY NEWS: “You’ve made nine 3s in a row over your last three games. What… What’s going on?”
HART: “Ummm. I don’t,” he started, pensive, before stopping in his tracks. “Damn. That makes it seem like I’m — Yo, J.B.!”
He redirected the question to Brunson, the Knicks’ captain, Hart’s closest friend dating back to their days winning titles at Villanova.
HART: “He said, ‘You made nine 3s in a row dating back like three games ago. What’s going on?’ That’s lowkey disrespectful right?”
BRUNSON: “Just get up and walk away.”
HART: “Yeah, appreciate you calling me trash,” he said, settling into his answer. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just throwing the ball up there, and fortunately it’s going in.”
The question wasn’t disrespect. It was a system malfunction. Because this — this version of Hart — by all accounts, is unrecognizable.
Hart is having the most efficient 3-point-shooting season of his career, and it’s coming at a time when the Knicks need it most. The numbers underscore the impact: The Knicks are 12-1 this season when Hart makes three or more 3s, compared to 26-18 when he makes two or fewer. They’re 22-7 when he attempts at least four, and 14-5 when he gets up five or more.
Hart is shooting 39.5% from deep on 3.8 attempts per game. His efficiency trumps the career mark he set as a rookie, when he shot 39.6% with the Los Angeles Lakers on 3.1 attempts from deep per night.
“He makes things happen on the floor, and what I like more than anything else is teams are leaving him wide open, and he’s letting it fly, and he works his a– off when it comes to shooting the basketball,” head coach Mike Brown said. “He works really hard at it, and it’s good for him to show people the work he’s put in.”
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The shots themselves tell the story — because these are the very looks Hart used to pass up.
With 19 seconds on the shot clock and just under three minutes left in the first quarter against Washington, Hart didn’t swing the ball or make a play for a teammate. Instead, he called his own number.
Hart used a Mitchell Robinson screen plus re-screen to shake free from Washington’s Bilal Coulibaly. When Coulibaly couldn’t recover, Hart planted his feet behind the arc and let it fly without hesitation.
It dropped.
Early in the third quarter, Bridges drove and kicked to Hart in the left corner. Another 3, this one over a late contest. Five minutes later, same spot, same setup — except this time, Hart attacked the closeout, took a dribble back behind the line and fired again. Another make.
“I mean, he’s actually shooting. He’s not hesitating, so that helps a lot,” said Towns. “But [Josh] is a special 3-point shooter. I think he has to trust his shot more, and I think that’s what’s happening.”
That internal trust wasn’t always there. Hart opened the season with a lower back injury and struggled early, making just two of his first 14 attempts from deep.
Since then, he’s flipped the script, now leading the Knicks in 3-point percentage at 42.2% following his early slump.
“He’s trusting his shot more, and we’re finding him in his spots and giving him a chance to shoot the ball, and he’s shooting it with confidence,” Towns said. “When you add that, he becomes a three-level scorer.”
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So yes, it’s fair to ask what’s going on. Especially when the recent sample doesn’t match the longer one.
From the All-Star break through the Knicks’ March 9 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Hart shot just 8-of-37 from 3-point range. Now, suddenly, his box scores resemble something closer to a Stephen Curry heater.
And even Curry hasn’t done this.
The NBA’s all-time leader in made 3s has never gone consecutive games without a miss from deep — a reminder of just how difficult sustained perfection is at this level, especially with volume.
That’s what makes Hart’s stretch stand out. It’s not just that he’s hot. It’s that he hasn’t missed.
Even historically, that’s rare.
Brent Price made 13 straight 3s over three games in 1996, but not without a miss in that span. Terry Mills hit 13 straight across two games, but he finished 7-of-8 from deep in the second. Shake Milton tied the 13-in-a-row mark in 2020, but he went 5-of-6, then 5-of-5, then 7-of-9.
No perfect run. Not like this.
Yet those three are in the Guinness Book of World Records, and now Hart — who started the season with a splint on the ring finger of his right, shooting hand — has nine straight made 3s.
And counting.
The odds say it won’t last. History says it won’t last, either. But for now, the streak is alive and well.
And in a way that feels fitting, Hart is brushing it off while inching closer to a statistical territory few players — even the greatest shooters — have ever touched.
“He’s been in the gym. He’s been working on his game,” Brunson said. “He’s been being consistent with it, and so when you’re consistent with your work, that’s what happens. We all know what he’s capable of. He’s just got to go out there and continue being himself.”