Josh Hart Leaves Karl-Anthony Towns Stunned With Wild Analytics Comment
Don’t look now, but the New York Knicks seem destined for their first appearance in the NBA Finals since 1999, as they won Game 2 in dominant fashion to take a 2-0 Eastern Conference Finals lead.
Rather than Jalen Brunson leading the way in scoring, fellow Villanova teammate Josh Hart was the team’s top scorer, finishing with 26 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Brunson still finished with 19 points and a career-high 14 assists, while Karl Anthony-Towns had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.
All of the Knicks’ starters finished in double digits, and the team shot 51.8 percent for the 119-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, don’t present stats or analytics to Hart, because according to the Knicks star, he’s not into them.
“I’m never a huge analytics guy. You know, at a certain point, they’re lamp posts to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home,” he said, with Towns sitting next to him at the postgame press conference.
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Towns seemed stunned for a moment, snickered, and shook his head before saying, “Oh my God, bro,” to his teammate’s wild comment, which Hart admitted wasn’t his own.
“I’m not gonna lie, that was Jerold Wright, his quote, though. So, shout out Jay Wright,” Hart told reporters, referring to his former Villanova coach.
“Wait a moment, we’re not moving on, bro,” Towns said to his teammate as people in the room laughed over it.
“That was a great quote,” Hart said, “analytics, lamp post to a drunk person.”
“I was with [Coach] Cal, so I ain’t ever hear that,” Towns joked, with Hart shooting back, “You ain’t even go to college.”
Towns played one year under John Calipari at Kentucky, studying kinesiology, before entering the 2015 NBA Draft and being selected first overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
By comparison, Hart played all four years for Wright at Villanova under Jerold "Jay" Wright, and won a national championship in 2016 with the school.
That sort of Knicks postgame banter reveals that analytics aside, this New York team seems to be enjoying itself. They’ve achieved an impressive nine-game win streak in these NBA Playoffs, with just two more wins needed to reach the NBA Finals.
New York seems to be loving it too, with plenty of celebrity fans showing up to support the team. Game 3 arrives in Cleveland at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 10:10 AM.