No Free Kick: Official Explains Ejection For New York Knicks' Josh Hart

Call it anything but a free kick for Josh Hart.

The New York Knicks' supersub was assessed an early shower amidst the team's 108-100 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at United Center. In the final minute of the opening period, Hart's drive was interrupted by a Dalen Terry steal, which eventually landed in the arms of Javonte Green. Already in the air, Hart's right foot came down on the side of Green's head, leading to his removal.

Hart was originally assessed a technical foul but it was upgraded to a flagrant upon review. Scott Foster, the lead official from Friday's game, didn't elaborate whether he believed Hart's act was intentional, but that ejection was the only recourse.

"Wind up, impact and follow through, potential for injury, whether the act was a non-basketball play, and location of the contact as well as whether we thought it was a reckless act are all the criteria that we felt were met for this decision,” Foster said in a pool report obtained by Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "We understood the impact of our decision on the game so we took our time with it."

The Knicks (45-32) were thus forced to play more shorthanded than usual and dropped their fourth in the last five games, failing to make up ground on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket on a night where their pursuers and those they're pursuing likewise fall. Green was Chicago's leading scorer, putting in 25 off the bench on 10-of-14 from the field.

Hart's boot ... literally and figuratively ... set a sour tone to this late four-game road trip, which will be played without Julius Randle after it was announced the three-time All-Star would undergo a season-ending shoulder procedure. Hart is thus penned into the starting lineup for the rest of the season and the presumed playoff trip ahead.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau noted that the Knicks sorely missed Hart's efforts on Friday, praising his impact while simultaneously scolding him for placing himself in that tight spot.

“He’s a key player particularly when teams are loading up on Jalen,” Thibodeau said in Bondy's report. “We can’t afford to do that. There’s a fine line. Josh has been terrific for us. But our margin of error is very tight right now. We need to get past any distractions.

"It’s a tough call. But it’s tougher to lose it. But it is what it is. We got to learn from it.” 

Hart and the Knicks' first opportunity to do so lands on Sunday when New York visits the Milwaukee Bucks (7 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).