Donovan Mitchell Gets Honest After Josh Hart Leads Knicks to Game 2 Win
After a 109-93 win at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks now have their ninth-straight victory, and a 2-0 lead on their latest opposition, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Thursday night’s performance was another example of the Knicks’ perseverance and intensity, allowing them to overpower a team when it matters most.
And this time around, it wasn’t Jalen Brunson leading New York to victory, but instead his fellow Villanova teammate, Josh Hart, who finished with 26 points on 10-for-21 shooting, to go with seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
On the opposing side, Donovan Mitchell led his team’s scoring effort again, matching Hart’s 26 points. During his postgame press conference, he shared his honest thoughts on what he’d seen from Hart, who also often guards him in these games.
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“Not comparing players, but you see a similar situation in the other series – [Alex] Caruso, [the Spurs are] kind of guarding him the same way,” Mitchell said. “I’m not saying, he’s him or whatever, or vice versa, but you just gotta adjust. And we’ll look at the film and figure out ways to adjust.”
“Sometimes you gotta tip your cap. He made a one-handed spin move on me, and not to say he’s not capable, but like sometimes, you know, that’s what happens,” the multi-time All-Star guard also shared. “We’ll make our adjustments, but you give credit where credit’s due; they made the right plays and knocked down shots they were supposed to make.”
While Hart averages 12 points per game for the Knicks, he rarely goes off with huge scoring performances, instead being an all-around player capable of hustle plays, dishing assists, and aggressive defense or rebounding. He embodies the intense on-court hustle this Knicks team has shown.
He seemingly previewed this scoring performance last month, with 26 points to lead his team to a 112-106 win against the Boston Celtics at MSG.
With the Cavaliers’ Game 2 loss, Mitchell explained that the team just had an off-shooting night; sometimes you make all those shots, but other times, despite good looks, they just don’t fall. He again credited the opposition, but remains focused after winning two previous series in seven games.
“Nothing to hang our heads about. They protected home court, and we’ve seen this before, so now we gotta get Game 3,” he told reporters.
They’ll get a chance to begin climbing back to even in this best-of-seven game series when Game 3 arrives at 8 p.m. ET Saturday in Cleveland.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 1:11 PM.