Josh Hart picked up his second technical in as many games for arguing with the refs and acknowledged he needs to chill.
“Yeah, I mean, end of the day, I’ve got to be more composed,” Hart said following Wednesday’s defeat. “First one last game [in Houston], they missed a call and [referee] Tyler Ford came to me and said, ‘I missed that call.’
“Today, I felt like it was the same way. It doesn’t matter the way the game was being officiated. I can’t let that dictate my energy level or my mood. Especially a game like this. It’s a close game. That point is huge. So I’ve got to be better with controlling that and being more composed in those situations.”
Hart was upset in Atlanta that there wasn’t a foul called as he converted a layup through contact. He led the Knicks in techs last season with seven.
The Knicks, who led the NBA in offensive rebounding last season with nearly 13 per game, lost that battle to the Hawks, 16-7.
A drop in that area was expected after the Knicks essentially swapped Isaiah Hartenstein for Karl-Anthony Towns at center.
“I’ve got to do a better job getting the rebounds, instilling the energy from the start,” Towns said. “We came out sluggish. One of the things I’ve got to always do is instill energy into the game, and I came out sluggish. I take responsibility and accountability for that. These guys work extremely hard. Our guards are working tremendously hard every night with the matchups with the way we are playing defense. I’ve got to do better.”
