Tom Thibodeau shakes up Knicks starting lineup with major change before must-win Game 3

INDIANAPOLIS — Tom Thibodeau pulled the trigger.The Knicks coach finally saw enough from his struggling starting lineup to make a move.For Sunday night’s must-win Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, Thibodeau sent Josh Hart to the bench and replaced him with Mitchell Robinson in his first five.The decision comes on the heels of the Knicks dropping the first two games of this series at home.Thibodeau had been resistant to making the move, saying multiple times in recent days that the coaching staff looks at everything.“Every player has different strengths and weaknesses and so sometimes you look at the impact one may have on one particular unit.But there’s also a trickle down,” Thibodeau said during his pregame news conference.

“There’s other things you have to factor in.How does it impact the second group? I don’t look at starting lineups, per se.

I look at the groupings, and then you’re mixing and matching also to take advantage of what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are to try to get the most out of the team.”Asked what factors he weighed before making the decision, Thibodeau said: “Everything.”The starting five of Hart, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns has been outscored in the playoffs by 81 points, with a NET rating of minus-9.5 (meaning they have been outscored by 9.5 points per 100 possessions).That is the worst mark of a starting group of any of the four remaining teams in the playoffs.

Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series.The Pacers starters have a NET rating of plus-20.7.That Knicks group also has a defensive rating of 117.6, considerably higher than the team’s postseason mark of 113.0.Robinson, the team’s top interior defender and best offensive rebounder, is second on the Knicks in NET rating at plus-8.6 behind Miles McBride’s plus-8.8.

Oddly, the fivesome of Robinson, Brunson,...