ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Josh Hart’s preseason started with a scare.
The Knicks forward limped to the locker room holding his back while wincing after he fell to the court on Thursday.
Hart was also ejected on the second-quarter play because he tossed the ball in the stands in frustration while still on the ground in pain. Following their 99-84 victory over the 76ers, the official postgame update from the Knicks was encouraging — a sore lower back, day to day — but the scene was concerning, and the team acknowledged it will wait for clarity Friday “to see how he feels.”
Josh Hart reacts as he falls during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the 76ers on Oct. 2, 2025. APSixers coach Nick Nurse was next to Hart and quickly tried to help the player.
“I thought something really bad happened,” Nurse said. “He wasn’t in a collision; did it 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 something very serious at the beginning. I was trying to get everybody’s attention, like, ‘Let’s go, get out here.’ And let’s hope he’s OK.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown didn’t seem too concerned, and neither did Hart as he jokingly tweeted a clip from the film “Next Friday” after the game to capture his “mood.”
“I just saw him when he was 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.”
The cause of the injury was hard to understand. Hart grabbed a defensive rebound and began to push the ball in transition but quickly collapsed to the court while guarded by Philadelphia’s Kennedy Chandler.
Hart was also ejected in the first half of the exhibition game. REUTERSLying by the Sixers sideline, Hart kept the ball away from Chandler — who was swiping at it — and launched it one-handed into the crowd after the whistle. That merited an automatic ejection.
Hart was already dealing with an injury on his surgically repaired right ring finger, which he aggravated in a workout before training camp.
He was the regular starter last season and set the franchise record for triple-doubles, eclipsing Clyde Frazier’s mark. But Hart was pushed to the bench for Thursday’s preseason opener, replaced by Mitchell Robinson as Brown went with a taller lineup.
Josh Hart is currently dealing with an injury on his surgically-repaired right ring finger, which he re-aggravated in a pre-training camp workout. Robert Sabo for NY PostHart managed just seven minutes with two points and three rebounds before his injury and ejection.
The Knicks and Sixers play here again Saturday.
