Hart makes certain Reggie hears taunts
The profane chants, backed by roughly 30 years of practice from Knicks fans, were loud certainly enough for Reggie Miller to hear.
But Josh Hart just wanted to make sure.
“I don’t know if you heard, but I think they said, ‘F–k you,” Hart told Miller at the end of the Knicks’ Game 2 victory Wednesday over the Pacers, not long after Knicks fans chanted, “F– You, Reggie.”
Asked about the exchange in the Knicks locker room, Hart said, “I just wanted to make sure he heard what the fans were chanting. I just wanted to make sure.”
Miller, the former Knicks tormenter and Pacers legend, flew into New York as a late addition to the TNT broadcast for Game 2. He seemed to embrace the revival of his villain status, calling himself the “Bogeyman” and playfully remarking on the telecast, “People are like, ‘Aren’t you worried about going back to New York City and calling a game?’ No. I’ve owned this city. I’ve owned this building! So why would I be worried about walking out there?”
Miller might not have been worried but he was serenaded.
➤ Jalen Brunson finished fifth for MVP and didn’t get a single first-place vote, as Nikola Jokic captured the award for a third time.
The Joker won overwhelmingly with 79 of the 100 first-place votes.
Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo rounded out the top-4 in that order.
Brunson, who led the Knicks to 50 wins while averaging 28.7 points, received three second-place votes, four third-place votes, 28 fourth-place votes and 32 fifth-place votes.
He edged out Jayson Tatum, who finished fifth.
Still, finishing in the top five is a good sign Brunson has a chance to make First Team All-NBA, a spot no Knick has occupied since Patrick Ewing.
➤ The NBA referees, a prominent and scrutinized group in the playoffs, held a “watch party” for Wednesday’s Game 2 from the league’s replay center.
The purpose of the watch party, which was broadcast on X, formerly Twitter, was for fans to “gain a new perspective, learn the rules, and engage with the officials themselves.”
In other words, amid a spate of criticism and controversial calls, the officials are trying to explain and perhaps humanize themselves.
The Knicks have been at the center of multiple officiating issues, including admissions of mistakes on the 2-minute reports that both hurt and helped New York in its series against the Sixers.
In Game 1 on Monday versus the Pacers, the Knicks were assisted by a wrong call on a kicked ball (it hit Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith’s hand, not his foot), and a moving screen on Myles Turner that was blasted as too weak to whistle in a big moment.