NBA

Josh Hart’s ref frustration captured in third-quarter call: ‘Don’t understand it’

MIAMI — Very interesting.

That’s how Josh Hart described what he felt was an uneven whistle Monday night.

Hart was one of two key Knicks — Julius Randle was the other — to foul out in their Game 4, 109-101 loss to the Heat that put them on the brink of elimination.

“What do you think? Did you see them? You saw them right?” Hart said, when asked about the calls he didn’t agree with. “I think you can see from my reaction [to some of them].”

One call in particular upset him, an offensive foul he was called for that negated a Randle basket late in the third quarter.

Hart was whistled for the infraction, in which he moved Kyle Lowry out of the way as Randle drove into the lane.

Josh Hart fouled out in the Knicks' Game 4 loss to the Heat on Monday.
Josh Hart fouled out in the Knicks’ Game 4 loss to the Heat on Monday. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post

“I told the referee Bam [Adebayo] did the same thing on a Jimmy Butler layup. Jimmy had a wide-open layup,” Hart said. “[Mitchell Robinson] tried to go contest it. Bam just grabs him. [The official says] ‘I don’t disagree with what you’re saying.’ I don’t understand it. If you don’t disagree with it, [why is it] two different outcomes? I don’t understand it.”

The Knicks were called for 23 fouls, compared to 21 by the Heat, although they did attempt two more free throws.


Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series


That was more even than Game 3, when the Heat attempted nine more free throws, 31 compared to 22 by the Knicks.

As for Hart, he didn’t make much of an impact, limited to four points and two rebounds — his fewest since joining the Knicks on Feb. 9 — in 22 minutes off the bench.

Coach Tom Thibodeau made a switch for Game 4, reinserting Quentin Grimes into the starting lineup.

Quentin Grimes (6) started over Josh Hart (r.) in Game 4.
Quentin Grimes (6) started over Josh Hart (r.) in Game 4. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post

Hart made only two of six shots from the field and committed two of the team’s 16 turnovers.

“That’s a conversation that Thibs and I had for the last week or so, and for me as a player, I got to be ready, whether I start, whether I don’t start,” he said, referring to the lineup change. “I got to come in and bring energy. I don’t feel like I did that today.”