Knicks’ Josh Hart OK after hard fall: ‘think he’ll be all right’

The Knicks already were without injured center Karl-Anthony Towns — the No. 2 rebounder in the NBA — when the No. 2 rebounder on their team headed for the locker room clutching his left shoulder in the third quarter of Friday’s home loss to the Timberwolves.

Josh Hart quickly reemerged from the tunnel and reported immediately to the scorer’s table, however, after missing less than three minutes of game action.

Hart, who crashed to the floor in pain after getting shoved by Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels into Knicks teammate Jericho Sims, ended up playing 38 minutes and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Josh Hart grabs his left shoulder after taking a hard fall during the Knicks’ loss to the Timberwolves. Jason Szenes for New York Post

Tom Thibodeau offered no immediate update on Hart afterward, saying he hadn’t been briefed by the medical staff, but teammate Jalen Brunson said he believed Hart was OK.

“I think he’ll be all right,” Brunson said after the game. “[I’m] not too worried about him and his toughness. We’ll all be back and be ready to go [Monday against the Hawks].”

Hart did not address the media after the game for one of the rare times this season.

He is averaging 14.2 points and career-highs in minutes (37.8 per game), rebounds (9.5), assists (5.5), steals (1.5) and field-goal percentage (.556).

Thibodeau said Towns remains day-to-day after missing his second straight game with a sprain and bone chip in his right thumb.

Cam Payne scored all 18 of his points on 7-for-9 shooting in seven first-half minutes off the bench to keep the Knicks within four points at halftime.

“Big lift. Big lift,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Precious [Achiuwa] gave us good minutes, but I thought Cam was really good and gave us a big spark because we were down when he went in and that gave us life. He played with a lot of energy.”

Veteran guard Landry Shamet has not played in either of the past two games.

He has converted just 20.0 percent of his 3-point attempts (4-for-20) in 12 appearances since returning from a preseason shoulder injury.