Isaiah Hartenstein’s hustle plays help Knicks even series with Heat:

The Knicks made the hustle plays and were the more physical team in their Game 2 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, and Isaiah Hartenstein was at the center of it all.

While Mitchell Robinson was the difference-maker in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he hasn’t been as effective early in this series, especially in Game 2, thanks to getting into foul trouble.

Hartenstein, who is the center for the secondary unit, put in 26 minutes to Robinson’s 21 to help the Knicks tie the series, 1-1.

While there were many players who contributed, like Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, if you ask the team they’ll point to one possession in the fourth quarter that turned the tide for good.

“Hartenstein, man, getting all those boards,” Barrett said after the game. “And we were able to get a good shot off in the end. It was good he was able to give us those extra possessions. His effort as well as Josh Hart almost had a triple-double. Things like that are big for the team.”

The possession in question saw Hartenstein grab three offensive rebounds with the Knicks down 96-93 with less than six minutes remaining before he found Hart in the corner for a game-tying three.

“It was a good possession,” Hartenstein said. “It showed who we are as a team. No matter what happens, we stick together and we just keep going. I think that’s what got us here and just being physical, playing together and just keep going.”

The Knicks outrebounded the Heat, 50-34 and 11-8 on the offensive glass in Game 2. Credit to that goes to Hartenstein (nine), Randle (12) and Hart (11) out hustling the Heat for extra possessions and it helped New York get back into the game.

With Brunson and Randle playing with injuries, the little plays that don’t show up on the scorecard lifted the Knicks — and it started with Hartenstein in that fourth quarter.

“Isaiah, those were huge hustle plays he made. We needed them,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Great…