Josh Hart all for it if Knicks move veteran to bench in drastic Game 3 lineup change

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Hart is “all for it” if Tom Thibodeau decides to make a change to insert Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup for Game 3 Sunday night against the Pacers, even if that means coming off the bench for the first time this season“I’ve been a 15th man, I’ve been a third man, I’ve been a sixth man, I’ve been whatever,” Hart said Sunday morning at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.”I truly feel like I’m a starter in the league, I think I’ve played amazing this year.So if he does [make a change], cool.“I can’t sit here and preach about sacrifice and getting out of our own personal agendas and all that, and then as a decision like that is made, then be mad at it and not wanting to sacrifice and not wanting to do that.

That’s not the kind of person that I am.“So if Thibs does that, which I don’t know if he is or isn’t, I’m all for it.I’m gonna play my game, my minutes, my style, no matter if I’m coming off the bench or I’m starting.After Friday’s Game 2 loss, Hart had said the Knicks need to “figure out ways … if [Robinson] can play more,” and that the other players “gotta be willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team.”The Knicks’ starting unit put the team in another early hole in Game 2, trailing, 15-5, before Robinson came off the bench.Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series.He played 16 straight minutes nearly through the end of the second quarter for a 52-49 halftime lead.Robinson, who missed the first four months of the regular season following offseason ankle surgery, finished the game with six points, nine rebounds (four offensive), three blocked shots and a plus-6 rating in a playoff-high 29 minutes.Hart admittedly had “low energy” and an unusually ineffectual stat line in Game 2, with six points on only three shot attempts and one assist in just 28 minutes due to early foul trouble....