Getty Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks celebrates his shot with teammates.
Josh Hart was caught singing his heart out to The Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” while on the bench during the New York Knicks‘ pivotal 102-93 win in Game 4 that gave them a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I would not play basketball if I could sing, bro,” Hart told a smiling Knicks teammate DaQuan Jeffries. “If I could sing, bro, I’m going on tour.”
ESPN anchor Mike Breen described Hart’s version of The Journey’s hit song as “terrific,” drawing laughs from the rest of the TV crew.
This Don’t Stop Believin’ version of @joshhart is IMMACULATE.
“It feels bad,” Hart told his teammate Jalen Brunson when reporters mentioned his singing during their postgame interview. “I can’t sing, yeah, I really wish I could.”
Brunson said, “Yeah,” nodding in agreement while trying to keep himself from bursting into a laugh.
“I said it before, if I could sing, I probably wouldn’t play basketball,” Hart added. “At that point [of the game], the vocals were terrible. I was shooting the ball really bad. My field goal looked like a tour date, so I should have just… I don’t know. It was bad. That’s all I can say.”
He might have been out of tune, but Hart was in-sync with the game after that.
Hart shot 3-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter for eight points and grabbed three rebounds, two from the offensive glass down the stretch, that helped seal the Knicks’ victory. He finished with 19 points, bucking a horrendous 4-for-12 shooting in the first three quarters. He also pulled down seven rebounds and had two assists and two steals while holding the Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell to 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting.
In the end, Hart is way better as a basketball player than a singer. But he may have accidentally sung a potential Knicks anthem for what is shaping up to be an unbelievable playoff run.
Josh Hart Shows Love to the Garden Crowd
Following the crucial win, Hart went to social media to reciprocate the love for him and the team, which the Knicks fans in attendance showed again in Game 4.
“I love The Garden 🧡💙,” wrote Josh Hart via Twitter.
I love The Garden 🧡💙
The Knicks crowd was raucously loud again, seemingly rattling the young and inexperienced Cavaliers for consecutive games.
Jalen Brunson Praises RJ Barrett
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks’ charge with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists as he continued to dominate Donovan Mitchell in their duel dating back to last season’s playoffs.
But he drew plenty of help, especially from RJ Barrett, who had a playoff career-high 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting.
“It’s unreal,” Brunson said of Barrett’s play to ESPN/ABC courtside reporter Lisa Salters. “I said before that in basketball, sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but his demeanor and mindset never changed, and it showed in the past couple of games.”
Barrett scored 10 points in the pivotal fourth quarter, seven during the Knicks’ 15-8 start to wrest control of the game after the Cavaliers’ furious third-quarter rally.
Over the last two games at home, Barrett averaged 22.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 56.7% from the field. It’s a remarkable turnaround after averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in Cleveland while shooting a horrendous 24% from the field.