The New York Knicks ran into the Portland Trail Blazers while Portland was riding high in a five-game win streak and New York didn't back down. The Knicks triumphed 123-114 over the hot Trail Blazers with a dynamic offense and solid defensive effort. 

The Knicks benefitted the most from the return of Josh Hart, who had missed the Knicks' previous eight games due to a sprained ankle he suffered on Christmas Day against the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Hart scored 18 points while shooting 7-5 from the field and sinking three triples, Hart also tacked on six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes, at least in New York head coach Mike Brown's opinion, it's the intangible things that Hart brings to the court that make him so crucial to the Knicks. 

"It's huge. Like I said before, a lot of our guys are irreplaceable. Especially a guy like Josh [Hart]. He does so many little things for you. Sometimes they don't even show up in the stat sheet," Brown said  via BASKETMAN). "Having him back even helps with our pace because he gets out in runs, he throws it ahead and/or he pushes the ball at an extremely fast pace so we get easy baskets."

Brown has the utmost confidence in his starting roster, he just needs them to all be on the court at the same time. With Hart back from his injury, the chemistry between the starting five has an opportunity to thrive and their skills can complement each other. The best teams enhance each others attributes and the Knicks possess that quality.

The way each of the starters make each other better was on display Sunday night as every starter had 18 or more points to take home the win. 

What Brown admires most about his team isn't just the fact that they can all score well, which he expects, but that they have the willingness to set up scoring opportunities for each other. Bringing Hart back is a major piece of maintaining that connectivity on the roster, but it's also a quality he sees in all of his players. 

"We've got guys that can score, so it's not surprising... All those guys can pass, dribble and shoot and they're unselfish," Brown said. "That's the thing that makes it exciting for our team when we have all those guys together, they're a lethal starting five and they're a lethal group that's together. Great things from Josh [Hart] as well as the rest of the group tonight."