{"id":16553,"date":"2026-01-11T11:02:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16553"},"modified":"2026-01-11T11:02:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T11:02:03","slug":"josh-hart-definitely-getting-close-to-return-to-knicks-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16553","title":{"rendered":"Josh Hart &#8216;definitely getting close&#8217; to return to Knicks lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>PHOENIX \u2014 Josh Hart, who has missed eight straight games with a sprained ankle, has progressed to taking contact in practice and is \u201cdefinitely getting close\u201d to returning, according to Mike Brown.<\/p>\n<p>That update means Hart could play again as early as Sunday in Portland, and the Knicks need him. They\u2019re 3-5 without Hart, including <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/09\/sports\/struggling-knicks-take-ugly-loss-om-road-to-suns\/\">Friday\u2019s 112-107 defeat to the Suns<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>He watched the loss from the team bench.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><button class=\"button button--modal-trigger\" aria-label=\"Open the image in a modal.\" data-modal-image=\"38146461\"><\/p>\n<p><\/button><figcaption>Josh Hart, who could return to the Knicks lineup Sunday against Portland, shares a laugh with Jalen Brunson during the Knicks\u2019 win over the Clippers on Jan. 7, 2025 at Madison Square Garden. <span class=\"credit\">Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hart\u2019s absence has created a playmaking hole, putting more onus on Jalen Brunson to handle the ball and absorb physical and pressing defenses.<\/p>\n<p>Tyler Kolek, Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride struggled in that role Friday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cObviously, we\u2019re trying to give some young guys an opportunity and some guys that aren\u2019t in that situation an opportunity,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cAnd they\u2019ve just got to do the best they can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hart, who suffered the injury on Christmas, said on his podcast that spraining his right ankle made it worse, indicating that it\u2019s not accustomed to healing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be back at some point. We\u2019ll see. Pretty good little sprain,\u201d Hart said. \u201cIf this is my left ankle, I\u2019m back by now. Because I\u2019ve had some good ankle sprains on my left ankle. But I haven\u2019t had many good ankle sprains on my right. This was a good one. After this, I won\u2019t have any ligaments to sprain. So I\u2019ll be solid.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center;display: block\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jXlgEXNeOJw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p>The Wizards still control the Knicks\u2019 draft future and just acquired a four-time All-Star in his prime with their trade for Trae Young.<\/p>\n<p>Theoretically, that should make it more likely the Wizards play better and lose their top-8 2026 protected pick to the Knicks.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p>However, the Wizards\u2019 plan, according to multiple reports, is to allow Young to sit and rest his injuries, rather than compel him to play and boost the team\u2019s chances this season.<\/p>\n<p>He was already ruled out of Friday\u2019s game against the Pelicans with a quad contusion and a knee sprain. It\u2019s the same knee sprain that Young recovered from last month.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Membership - Inside the Knicks\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n                            What\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court                        <\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n                            Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\n                                    <\/div>\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n                        Thank you                   <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In other words, the Wizards might be even more likely to lose this season after trading CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Hawks for Young.<\/p>\n<p>The Wizards are 10-27, the fourth-worst record in the league. A bottom-four finish ensures the Wizards keep their pick away from the Knicks, who also have their own first-rounder in 2026 but don\u2019t have another one until 2030.<\/p>\n<p>If the Wizards\u2019 pick doesn\u2019t convey to the Knicks in the next draft, it becomes two second-round picks.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/10\/sports\/josh-hart-definitely-getting-close-to-return-to-knicks-lineup\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHOENIX \u2014 Josh Hart, who has missed eight straight games with a sprained ankle, has progressed to taking contact in practice and is \u201cdefinitely getting close\u201d to returning, according to Mike Brown. That update means Hart could play again as early as Sunday in Portland, and the Knicks need him. They\u2019re 3-5 without Hart, including &#8230; <a title=\"Josh Hart &#8216;definitely getting close&#8217; to return to Knicks lineup\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16553\" aria-label=\"Read more about Josh Hart &#8216;definitely getting close&#8217; to return to Knicks lineup\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Josh-Hart-definitely-getting-close-to-return-to-Knicks-lineup.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16555,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16553\/revisions\/16555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}