Josh Hart is proving hes much more than a Knicks accessory

Less than three months ago, Josh Hart was perplexed.Confused.

“Lost,” in his words.The Knicks had just dropped an exhibition game to the Wizards, and Hart, their pulse since Leon Rose acquired him in 2023, sounded exasperated as he tried to decipher his role in a new-look lineup.

He managed just two points the entire preseason.Maybe, he floated, a move to the bench could help.It didn’t take long for any lingering anguishes to become abating worries and then fade altogether once the regular season arrived.

Hart, of course, remained a starter.He has missed just one game — Dec.

19, due to personal reasons — and assembled some of the best numbers of his career.And after the Knicks’ 112-98 victory over the Raptors on Wednesday, when he collected 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to finish just short of his team-leading fifth triple-double this year, Hart reiterated that he has embraced being a “servant” to the Knicks stars around him.So even if his role in the spotlight doesn’t contain the same number of lumens as that of Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns, the 29-year-old remains an integral part of the Knicks operation entering a rematch with the surging Thunder (30-6) on Friday at the Garden.

Hart has averaged 15.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game since Dec.21, and with season marks of 14.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, he, at the very least, will have a shot at averaging a double-double for the first time in his career.“Off the court, I don’t know what he’s gonna say,” Towns said Wednesday.

“And on the court, I don’t know what he’s gonna do.I think I’ve become the biggest fan of Josh Hart because I just don’t know what I’m gonna see from Josh Hart that night.”Towns’ return from a one-game absence emerged as the dominating storyline against the Raptors, but Hart continued to jolt the Knicks at various points.

He dribbled out of the corner and threaded an extra pass to a cutting Mikal Bridges fo...