Josh Hart injury: Knicks forward bothered by a possible back injury

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks are one win away from the conference semifinals, but there might be an injury concern to watch.

Forward Josh Hart, 28, seemingly bothered by a possible back injury, left New York’s 126-97Game 5 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, April 28 in the fourth quarter and did not return to the bench.

After the game, Knicks coach Mike Brown did not have any information on Hart’s status, and a team public relations spokesperson indicated that the medical staff had not provide any information about a possible injury. fishroad-app.com

Hart appeared to suffer a back injury in the first half of Tuesday’s contest, though he remained in the game. Hart was officially subbed out with 6:27 left in the game, and he went through the tunnel and didn’t emerge for the rest of the game. The substitution might have been more precautionary, however, as the Knicks were up by 24 points when Hart left the game.

Known for his grit, physical play and toughness, Hart has often played through minor issues, and he has become a key figure in New York’s title hopes. Throughout this series, he has served as a versatile defensive wing, alternating his assignments from game-to-game.

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Even if Hart is forced to miss some time, though, the Knicks still have excellent defensive wings in OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. In fact, Brown has deployed Hart in a way that allows the Knicks to switch all pick-and-rolls, giving New York excellent matchup versatility on defense.

In 30:14 on the court Tuesday night, Hart scored 9 points on 3-of-8 shooting, adding 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday, April 30 in Atlanta, with the Knicks holding a 3-2 series lead. The Knicks are expected to issue their first injury report Wednesday, April 29, during the evening.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Knicks' Josh Hart leaves Game 5 win vs Hawks with possible back injury

Shaquille O'Neal boldly declares that Victor Wembanyama is the NBA's first perfect big man originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The San Antonio Spurs are now in the Western Conference Semifinals after beating the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. Victor Wembanyama was the Spurs' best player once again, showcasing his dominance on both ends.

While Wembanyama will credit his teammates in helping the Spurs win, he was the primary reason they won. In fact, the Trail Blazers did win their only game when Wembanyama went down with a concussion in Game 2.

Victor Wembanyama gets called the perfect big man by Shaquille O'Neal

Wembanyama has emerged as one of the league's biggest megastars this season. He was already a larger-than-life figure before, but he ascended into superstardom this season for the Spurs.

He now holds the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year award and has led the Spurs to their first Western Conference Semifinals appearance since 2017, when Kawhi Leonard was their star player.

MORE: Dylan Harper matches Kawhi Leonard with a new NBA Playoffs record

Wembanyama is such a unique player because he can dominate every part of the game. Whether that's defense, offense in the paint, or offense in the perimeter, he is unstoppable.

Even three-time Finals MVP and NBA icon Shaquille O'Neal is giving him props. Considering Shaq is one of the hardest people to please in the NBA world, his praise for Wemby is extremely unique.

"I think Wemby is the first perfect big man that's ever been created. He can shoot, free throws, play defense, play offense, and he's a great team player. I'm happy for Wemby. For me, in a long time, he's a joy to watch," Shaq said on Inside The NBA after Game 5.

With that kind of co-sign, Wemby has plenty of potential to tap into moving forward. It will be challenging, but he has all the tools in his arsenal to become one of the greatest big men in NBA history like Shaq did.

More NBA news:

• Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox lead the Spurs past the plucky Trail Blazers
• Victor Wembanyama leaves his father in awe of his defensive performance
• Deni Avdija got a brutal hit on Stephon Castle in Game 5
• Victor Wembanyama throws some shade at the NBA for his concussion return process
• De'Aaron Fox calls out the referees for swallowing their whistles against Portland

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — David Pastrnak scored on a breakaway 9:14 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins avoided elimination with a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

Catching Buffalo on a line change, Hampus Lindholm fed a pass up the right boards to find Pastrnak in stride just as he crossed the blue line. Driving in alone on net a step ahead of Buffalo’s Mattias Samuelsson, Pastrnak faked cutting across the front and nearly lost his balance before slipping the puck inside the right post.

The series shifts back to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday night, with Buffalo still seeking to clinch its first playoff series victory since eliminating the New York Rangers in six games of a 2007 second-round series. The Sabres are in the playoffs for only the third time since, and after snapping an NHL record 14-season playoff drought this year.

Elias Lindholm also scored for Boston which overcame a 1-0 deficit. Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots, including foiling Jason Zucker set up in front 3:30 into the extra period.

Rasmus Dahlin scored for Buffalo and Alex Lyon stopped 27 shots.

WILD 4, STARS 2

DALLAS ((AP) — Matt Boldy scored the tiebreaking power-play goal in the final minute of the second period, after having one taken away late in the first, and Minnesota beat DallasQ for a 3-2 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.

Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal with two minutes left and had two assists, while Mats Zuccarello scored in his return from a three-game absence with an upper-body injury for the Wild. Michael McCarron also had a third-period goal.

The Wild go home for Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to advance to the second round for the first time since 2015. They have lost their last nine playoff series, including to Dallas in 2016 and 2023

OILERS 4, DUCKS 1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as Edmonton staved off elimination by beating Anaheim.

The Oilers now trail the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series 3-2 with game 6 on Thursday night in Anaheim.

Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously allowed six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the series.

Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton is now 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.

Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks.

Connor Ingram made 29 stops for Edmonton, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for Anaheim after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who allowed three goals on nine shots.

The Phillies’ offensive slump has been linked to a lack of left‑handed batting practice. Until Logan Mathieu joined the team, left‑handed practice was missing, leaving hitters unprepared against left‑handed pitchers.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as the Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night.

The Oilers now trail the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series 3-2 with game 6 on Thursday night in Anaheim.

Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously allowed six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the series.

Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton is now 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.

Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks.

Connor Ingram made 29 stops for Edmonton, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for Anaheim after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who allowed three goals on nine shots.

For the fifth straight game the Oilers struck first, scoring on the game’s first shot just 2:22 into the contest as Podkolzin beat Dostal high for his second of the postseason.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead 8:33 into the opening period as a point shot was deflected twice, the second time through Dostal’s legs by Hyman.

The Oilers took a 3-0 lead just 1:14 later as Draisaitl tipped Bouchard's point shot in for his second of the playoffs. That spelled an early end of the night for Dostal.

Anaheim got on the board on the power play 8:26 into the second period as Mason McTavish dropped it back to Killorn, who extended his points streak to four games with his third goal of the playoffs.

Edmonton responded with a power-play goal a couple of minutes later on a one-timer by Draisaitl, who tied Wayne Gretzky for the most postseason power-play goals in franchise history at 23.

Edmonton has played the most playoff games of any NHL team since 2022 with 80, two more than the Florida Panthers, who beat the Oilers in the last two Stanley Cup finals before failing to qualify this season.

Playing in his 80th career playoff game, Bouchard collected his 88th point, moving into a tie for third place for players through 80 games with Brian Leetch, behind only Bobby Orr (92) and Paul Coffey (92).

McDavid (63 points) passed Adam Oates for the second-most points in NHL history when trailing in a playoff series. Only Gretzky (80) has more.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl