Josh Hart on how Knicks banded together to hold off Cavaliers: 'We didn't get rattled'

The Knicks held off the Cleveland Cavaliers' late fourth quarter run to win Game 1 of their first-round series on Saturday night, 101-97, thanks in part to a big night from the New York bench.

New York's bench outscored Cleveland's by 24 points, 38-14, as Josh Hart led the bench unit with 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting plus 10 rebounds (five offensive) in 33 minutes of action. Even though he's been in the NBA for six seasons, it was Hart's first playoff game and he said after the win how great the atmosphere was at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

"Oh man it was fun, it was a great atmosphere," Hart said. "Gotta give their fans credit, they showed out, they were loud, they supported their team. And obviously you know to come out Game 1 with a win, obviously that's always great."

Former Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson, who had a big night of his own with 27 points, spoke highly of Hart's performance and his consistent effort on the court.

"Yeah, unreal," Brunson said. "That's just what he does. I said it after the game, it doesn't matter if it's pick-up, preseason, playoffs, he plays that way every single time. That's just how he is, that's how he's wired. He's big time."

The Knicks were down one point with under two minutes left in the game when Hart made his biggest shot of the night, hitting a three to give the team a lead they wouldn't lose. The 28-year-old explained what happened on the play and was relieved he made the three-pointer.

"I think Donovan [Mitchell] was guarding him and obviously Jalen was feeling good so we were trying to get him the ball and let him work," Hart said. "And Donovan did a good job denying him, and it was just like 'gotta be aggressive.' You know, I pulled up and you know, luckily the ball went in."

Mitchell had gone on a scoring tear in the final minutes to make it a close game, but Hart went on to say that the team "banded together" and fought through adversity to pull out the road victory.

"It felt great," Hart said. "Obviously when you're in adverse situations, you know you can either crumble or you can band together and come out of it on top. And I feel like the latter is what we did. We didn't get frustrated, we didn't get rattled. We know they're a good team, we know Donovan's a heck of an offensive player. We weren't surprised, and we just kept the demeanor of let's just go about our business, let's handle our business, let's control what we can control and that's our attitudes. We were able to pull it out."

Hart wasn't the only bench player to make an impact, as backup center Isaiah Hartenstein was a +19 in the scorebook with eight points and five rebounds in 22 minutes. He went on to say that the bench's energy was crucial and that's something they've been trying to bring all season long.

"I think we just bring a lot of energy off the bench," Hartenstein said. "I think you got a lot of guys on the bench who on other teams can probably start. I think anytime Josh, Quick [Immanuel Quickley], Obi [Toppin]or me come in the game no matter what's on the scoreboard, we're just trying to come in and play the right way and I think that's what makes us most effective."