Josh Hart’s ‘connectivity’ is why Knicks want him in starting lineup,

By his own admission, Josh Hart has been ‘kind of in my head with a lot of stuff’ since the All-Star break.

He’d missed 28 of his 38 three-point attempts since the break. And he was part of a Knicks starting lineup that was struggling early in games.

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As is usually the case, there were calls in some corners of social media to pull Hart from the starting lineup.

But he showed those fans – and anyone else watching – why he should stay put on Tuesday night.

Hart scored a Knicks career high 33 points in a win over Indiana. He went 12-for-13 from the floor and hit all five of his three-point attempts.

“I just like that he took the right shots and he didn’t hesitate,” Mike Brown said after the game.

Brown said earlier in the week that he wouldn’t hesitate to change his starting lineup if the group continued to struggle. But it doesn’t sound like he would consider taking Hart out of the lineup.

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“I think the main thing…is him connecting the group. I’m not saying he is Andre Iguodala or his game is like Andre Iguodala’s, but there are a lot of similarities where you watch him…he’s really good in a lot of different areas,” Brown said Tuesday. “But more importantly, he connects the group and having a guy like that, especially to start games, is huge…. He’s been fantastic giving us that energy, giving us the connectivity we needed with that starting group and then doing the little things. Offensive glass, pushing the pace, getting off in transition. He’s a switchable guy, he’s a physical guy and (he does) a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet that … help with connectivity as well.”

Hart did plenty that showed up in the stat sheet on Tuesday. In addition to hitting all of his three-point attempts, he had seven rebounds and five assists. But anyone who watches this team knows that they are at a different level when Hart is hitting his shots.

After the Knicks’ win over Indiana, Hart…