“It’s not really about who’s starting, it’s about how you finish.” Tom Thibodeau made his stance clear after he took the pivotal decision of removing Josh Hart from the starting lineup in Game 3. The risk paid off that night, as the Knicks got a much-needed win in Indiana, thanks to the Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson-led lineup. Since then, Thibs stuck to bringing Hart off the bench for the remainder of the series. However, the move failed to have the same impact it did the first time.

Amid the sudden role change, Josh struggled to find his rhythm throughout the entire series, unable to stay productive, especially against the Pacers. Meanwhile, the Knicks gradually headed toward their unfortunate fate, eventually getting eliminated tonight with a 17-point blowout loss to the Pacers. In the East Finals, he averaged merely 8.3 points. Moreover, tonight was his most disappointing performance yet. He scored a series low 6 points on 1 of 6 shooting, with him also being a non-factor on defense, grabbing only 6 rebounds.

Following the season-ending loss, Hart surprisingly blamed himself for being unable to rescue his team amid adversity, “I don’t know man. I failed the team. I didn’t bring it how I should have, especially in this series. If I played better, it could’ve been a different situation.”

Further highlighting his struggles, Hart said, “Just kind of disappointed. You know, I had some good games, some bad games. I just was trying to find it, I couldn’t. Couldn’t find it. Obviously extremely disappointed. Could’ve and should’ve played better. That’s gonna sting for a while.” Maybe, Hart is being a bit too harsh on himself, considering he was playing with a major health concern.

Per veteran reporter Ian Begley, Hart dislocated his finger in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Despite that, he tried his best to play through the pain and help his team win. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get the Knicks over the hump. Which makes you wonder… Would the outcome have been different if Hart was put back in the starting lineup?

Josh Hart addresses challenges amid shift from starting lineup

Of course, many speculate that Hart’s struggles were because he was abruptly removed from the starting lineup. Prior to Game 3, the forward had started every game for the Knicks this year, including regular season and playoffs. Sure enough, the sudden change led to major challenges in the East Finals, which Hart highlighted following tonight’s loss, “I don’t know. I just, for me, I don’t know I just felt like I couldn’t, playing hard, trying to find IT. Whatever ‘IT’ is. I think I didn’t play how I normally play. There were some games I had 3-4 turnovers. I let that cause me to kind of get out of my game and be a little more passive and not… Cause obviously you know how costly turnovers are.”

However, Josh has no one to blame for it but himself because turns out, coming off the bench was his call. “It was something that I’ve had in the back of my mind, and I’ve always wanted to do. Down 0-2, especially with how (Robinson) played last game, that was something that we had to do. And obviously, that’s a group decision that really boils down to Thibs and myself.” He told the media earlier this week.

Moreover, Hart confirmed that he was comfortable coming off the bench, “It was never going to be a tough day for me because I had a hand in that decision. When I’m in a decision like that and kind of got the ball rolling on that, it was funny. Y’all are scrambling, trying to get answers, and I never really cared because it was kind of my decision. I was comfortable with it.” Unfortunately, that did not reflect in his performance on the court, as Hart continued to struggled throughout the series. As the Knicks’ season comes to a close, Hart will get more time to reflect on his performance and analyze where things truly went wrong. Thoughts?