Knicks’ Josh Hart ejected after Flagrant 2 foul in Friday’s game vs. Bulls

The Knicks were already short-handed without Julius Randle, but they had to go through most of their 108-100 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night without Josh Hart after the second-year Knick was ejected.

In the waning seconds of the first quarter, Hart drove for a layup but lost the ball as two Bulls players swiped down on him as he went down the lane. As Hart went up without the ball he turned and kicked Javonte Green in the head.

The motion resulted in a technical for Hart, but the officials looked at it closer and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in Hart’s ejection.

After the game, officials told coach Tom Thibodeau that they felt Hart’s kick was intentional and that they “had to do it.”

Hart was ejected from the game after playing 11-plus minutes, scoring zero points on 0-for-2 shooting, one rebound and one assist.

The Knicks entered Friday’s game in a tie with the Orlando Magic for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference- although the Magic have the tiebreaker. Even though the Knicks lost Randle for the rest of the season, they did get forward OG Anunoby back in this game.