NBA FINALS: KNICKS VS. SPURS

June 9, 2026

Josh Hart

New York Knicks

Practice Day

Q. You guys have spent so much time playing together, two years together, and then obviously you and Mikal and Jalen have almost a decade now. How does that present itself on the court, that kind of chemistry? Especially you've had so much success in the late-shot-clock situations too, just creating something out of nothing. How does that continuity make itself known on the court together?

JOSH HART: I think you just get a familiarity and a certain comfort level with those guys. All of them can go out there and make plays, especially end of shot clock. End of shot clock, JB, I trust Mikal in any end-of-shot-clock, end-of-game situations. Same with OG, KAT. I think it's more so the trust that's built and you know where everyone likes the ball and plays for them to execute.

Q. I know last night obviously you guys weren't happy defensively with what you did. Castle and Harper especially have been getting to the rim pretty easily, but the shot for both of them has been a little bit inconsistent outside. You've experienced some teams daring you to shoot from outside throughout these playoffs. Is there a point where the same goes for these two guys, young guys, shot hasn't always been there, that you've got to prove that they can make it from outside?

JOSH HART: I'm sure we're going to change some things and switch up some schemes to protect the paint because obviously, like you said, those guys are very dynamic when they touch the paint. Obviously, Wemby, when he rolls, he brings in a crowd.

So we've just got to do a better job controlling the ball, first and foremost, and making the ball find those guys. They're a good team. They're a physical team, athletic team, but we have to have a little bit of a better attention to detail in terms of being in those shifts and not letting the ball touch the paint.

Q. What do you think you guys did well on the offensive end in the second quarter, and what do you think you either got away from or they took away from you in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter?

JOSH HART: I think we played a little bit slower than we did in that second quarter. We got stops. We ran. Obviously they shot a lot of free throws, so it was tough to run. That sometimes causes you to slow down. It slows the game down. We've got to be better at that and playing to our strengths.

Q. It's been 46 days, I think, since you had lost a basketball game. Was there a point, either in the locker room or going home or just sitting once you got in your car, your bed, being like, damn, that it felt noticeably different in a way that it wouldn't have if you had lost last time a week ago?

JOSH HART: No, every loss kind of hurts the same. That's a good team. We knew they weren't just going to lay down and let us win four straight. We knew this was going to be a battle. They played very well, and we've got to give them credit for that.

We didn't play to the best of our capabilities. I think that's just the frustrating part, because we knew we didn't play our best basketball.

We learned from film today, and we'll be better tomorrow.

Q. As you're talking about film, can you take us through the process in between games? Obviously you do team film. Do you also watch film on your own? Do you have a personal coach that helps you with that? Secondly, how much information do you need, and what's the balance between having that information but also playing offense?

JOSH HART: You want as much information as you can. You watch film as a team. You watch film as individuals, whether that's by yourself or with your player development coach. You get shots up. You do your best to recover, let your body rest.

But you want to watch kind of as much film as you can or get as much information as you can to then go out there and play to that. Obviously you want to play with your instincts as a basketball player that you've been playing the game for such a long time. But certain situations you want to have the information so certain plays you can try to deter them from getting to their spots and stuff like that.

Q. You're one of the biggest leaders on the team. What was the message after yesterday's game in the locker room?

JOSH HART: 0-0. No matter if we won or lost yesterday, today we came in, did film, got better, learned for what we could do, do this damn circus of a media and then get shots up and go to sleep.

For us, nothing changes. I think we're all frustrated about how we played, specifically me as a leader in terms of energy, physicality, those kinds of things. I didn't do that to the best of my ability. You learn from it.

Whether we won yesterday or lost yesterday, it would have been the same mentality.

Q. I think this would be the best question for you because you're a FIFA World Cup ambassador. I'm not sure if you're aware, Game 6 is clashing with a match with World Cup. Are you aware of that?

JOSH HART: Yeah, France-Senegal.

Q. Exactly. I think a lot of New Yorker citizens or tourists are thinking how should they compromise the situation? I think very similar to the last question, what would be your mindset like not taking this series back here for Game 6 so that the city would not be disrupted?

JOSH HART: Ideally we don't go past five games. Our thought process is we want to win every single game, not because of we don't want to clash with France and Senegal playing in the World Cup. We want to win the next game, and that mentality doesn't change no matter who we play, no matter what goes on around us, no matter what goes on in the city. As competitors, we want to win the next game.

I'm sure they're thinking the same thing; they want to win the next game. That's why it's a series. It's going to be a battle. But you can't think about that outside stuff.