‘Lost’ Josh Hart doesn’t have to look far for inspiration as the new-look New York Knicks look to take down champions

The New York Knicks enter the new NBA season with legitimate championship aspirations.

As Josh Hart tries to break out of his current funk to help achieve their lofty goals, one man has underlined the role the rest of the team is playing.

3

Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson puts the responsibility and blame on himself.

“I have to be a better leader and make sure he’s ready for the first game,” Brunson said in an exclusive conversation with The New York Post.

“It’s up to me.”

Game one is Tuesday night against the reigning champions, Boston Celtics, as they will raise their NBA record, banner 18 into the rafters and receive their championship rings.

The Knicks want to crash the party and will need valuable minutes from Hart to do so, but if he carries over his preseason play, it could be a hit.

Hart struggled mightily, taking just six shots in 90 minutes with two points, stating after their final preseason match that he was lost and could not point a finger at his struggles.

‘I’m lost. I have no idea,” Hart said.

“There’s still a few days left before we get to Boston. So whether that’s trying to get a rhythm with that starting unit, or we look at someone else and my role changes and comes off the bench and goes with that unit.

“So I’m trying to figure it out right now, I pretty much have no idea. But we’ll see what happens in Boston (during the season opener Tuesday).”

Those ‘few days’ are now just one. And while Hart struggles to point the finger at the issue of his poor play, Brunson continues to point the finger at himself.

3

“I feel like Josh is a very selfless person,” Brunson said.

“He may think, ‘I have to get someone else involved.’

“But from my point of view, I just feel like we have to be better as teammates to make sure we’re all on the same page, otherwise we’re going to give each other confidence no matter what. That starts with me.”

As leader of the team and the franchise, it does start with Brunson.

Expectations for New York have not been this high since the days of Patrick Ewing.

The weight of the Big Apple falls on the shoulders of the 6-foot-1 guard who has taken the city by storm over the past two seasons and now faces his biggest challenge.

We’re bringing a championship to a franchise that hasn’t won it all since 1973.

They have all the parts to do it, now it’s just a matter of making it all fit.

3

Head coach Tom Thibodeau is tasked with making it all fit.

He must fit star center Karl-Anthony Towns and budding star Mikal Bridges into the lineup, both of whom were acquired in blockbuster trades, while still finding a role for Hart.

A role that, according to Thibs, is the same as always for Hart.

“We’re a new team and we’re in preseason, so there’s a lot for all of us to figure out,” Thibodeau said.

‘He’s doing well. It’s the same role he’s always had. That role will not change. Just go out there and help the team.”

Sounds simple enough, but it will be up to Hart, not Brunson, to pull himself out of this funk.