Josh Hart makes bold admission on tide turning play against Pistons

New York Knicks star Josh Hart didn’t mince words when addressing his last-second play against Tim Hardaway Jr. The Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons 94-93 on Sunday with a late stop by Hart to secure the hard-fought Game 4 win.

After fans voiced their frustrations with the play and the no-call from the referees, Hart sent a blunt message about it. He admitted he made contact with Hardaway but declined to accept it was a foul and gave the referees the responsibility.

“Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him,” ,” Hart told reporters. “Was it legal? I don’t know! We’ll see in the last two minute report.”

Tim Hardaway Jr. was visibly upset over that play and its aftermath, telling a simple message during his one-question locker room interview. Asked if he considered he was fouled, Hardaway stated:

“You all saw it. It was blatant.”

Hardaway didn’t have the best game, as he only scored 14 points on 5-of-16 from the field and a poor 4-of-13 from deep. He was still on the court during the final play of the game and perhaps the free throws the referees denied him would have redeemed his discreet performance.

Josh Hart finished the game with 14 points (third-best scorer behind Jalen Brunson’s 32 points and Karl-Anthony Towns’ 27 units), to go along with 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Knicks are up 3-1 in the series heading back to Madison Square Garden.

Referee confirms Josh Hart fouled Tim Hardaway Jr. during final play in Game 4

While Josh Hart said the referees would be the ones to decide whether he committed a foul, Crew Chief David Guthrie confirmed that Hart fouled Hardaway.

“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hard makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called,” the pool report reads.

The Knicks are one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs and Game 5 will be played at their home. The Pistons will leave Detroit with a sour taste, but will try to bounce back in New York.