It's been a few seasons since New York Knicks fans have had something to really cheer about. This has been a resurgent season though and it marks only the second time in the last ten seasons that the Knicks have reached the 40 win plateau. They reached 41 wins during the 2020-21 season which was the first season Tom Thibodeau took over as head coach. This season they're sitting at exactly 40 wins with 12 games to go. A key factor in their strong play was their trade deadline acquisition of Josh Hart from the Portland Trail Blazers. Hart is one of those players that will never be confused for a star, but is a star in his role. He's played very well for the Knicks and following the team's big win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Tom Thibodeau had high praise for his new guard as per Peter Botte of The New York Post.

“It's interesting. He's what I would term a glue guy,” Thibodeau said. “You can start him, you can bring him off the bench. He's a elite rebounder, but he's a playmaker. And when I say playmaker I'm not talking about in the sense of just by the pass. If you need great defense, you need a loose ball, you need an offensive rebound, you need a shot, whatever it is that you need, he'll provide. . .He gets big rebounds late when the game is on the line, and in traffic. And he's all about the team and all about winning. He's been a great fit for us.”

Since coming over to the Knicks in the trade, Hart has been averaging 10.7 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals with shooting splits of 60.8 percent from the field, 58.6 percent from the three-point line and 74.3 percent from the free-throw line.