There have been a few constants after each of the Knicks’ four playoff victories.
Coach Tom Thibodeau quickly moves on to the next game, focusing on what the Knicks have to do better.
His players stress the importance of not getting carried away with their latest win.
And then there is the highlight: Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart sharing the podium together.
The former Villanova teammates have become the Knicks’ very own Abbott and Costello act.
Hart is the jokester, often bringing food into the press-conference room.
Brunson is frequently embarrassed or critical of his close friend, responding to his antics.
“It’s classic, it’s those two. That’s what they are all the time,” Jay Wright, the duo’s coach at Villanova, told The Post in a phone interview. “They remind me of Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. Jalen’s the straight guy and Josh is the comedian. They were always that way.”
Hart ate chicken wings after the Knicks’ clincher over the Cavaliers on Wednesday, and Brunson told him: “Don’t [do] this again, bro.”
Hart’s response: “I’m just eating. He’s asking you a question, what are you mad at me for?”
Once, Hart wore a T-shirt with teammate Brunson’s face on it from a recent Slam Magazine cover.
Shortly after his acquisition in mid-February in a deadline deal, Hart showed the media a screenshot of Brunson’s joyous reaction the night the Knicks traded for his friend.
“Look how cute he is, look how happy he is. He was so excited,” Hart gloated, as Brunson covered his face with his right hand.
Asked about this routine, they had predictably different responses. Brunson called Hart a “clown,” in a dry joking manner.
Hart said he’s frequently hungry after games.
They like to make fun of each other.
Hart has playfully called Brunson, “undersized, overrated, overpaid.”
The day he wore the Brunson T-shirt, the Knicks guard was clearly uncomfortable, blushing as his friend flashed that trademark grin of his.
“Embarrassed? Nah, we’ve been through worse,” Brunson said then.
Their bond began nearly a decade ago, as teammates at Villanova.
Together, they won a national championship in 2016 during Brunson’s freshman season, and they remained close as they made their way through the NBA.
Brunson’s ecstatic reaction to the Hart trade, captured on video the night his No. 1 jersey was retired by Villanova, went viral.
He looked like a kid on Christmas morning opening his desired gift.
“It’s like fairy-tale stuff, being with him,” Brunson said recently.
Added Hart: “It’s fun playing with my brother.”
Just the other day, Hart returned home from Cleveland and was getting ready to play virtual video games with Brunson.
His wife didn’t understand it.
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They were just with one another on a road trip.
“But that’s how we are, man,” Hart said. “We have a close relationship.”
So close that they are willing to publicly ridicule one another.
It’s nothing new, although it is playing out now on the big stage that is the NBA playoffs.
Wright recalls them acting that way in college, too.
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Brunson was the serious one and Hart the comedian.
Nothing has changed — on or off the court.
They have been magic together.
The Knicks have gone 21-9 since Hart joined them and reached the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time in a decade.
“They’re a great tandem because Jalen’s so good with the ball in his hands, making the right decisions, being able to be an aggressive scorer, but also making the right play and making people around him better. Some guys can do one or the other — he does both.” Wright said. “And then Josh is just the classic example of a guy that you don’t have to call any plays for him. He does everything off the ball to help his team offensively and defensively. They’re just such a great combination together.”
They are likely going to win more playoff games, which will mean more of the Brunson and Hart comedy act.
Maybe if they win Sunday afternoon, the Knicks can add some sound effects when the two players meet the media.
