Will Thibs really do it?
The New York Knicks are strongly considering starting Mitchell Robinson in place of Josh Hart for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
Hearing the Game 3 lineup change being strongly considered by the Knicks is to move Mitchell Robinson to starting lineup and have Josh Hart come off the bench. My man @CPTheFanchise said earlier that NYK was strongly considering a change ahead of G3. NYK starting lineup is -50 in…
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) May 25, 2025
“Hearing the Game 3 lineup change being strongly considered by the Knicks is to move Mitchell Robinson to starting lineup and have Josh Hart come off the bench,” Begley reported. “NYK starting lineup is -50 in the postseason and -29 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Indiana has a 2-0 series lead and will host the Knicks on Sunday. Based on where things stand currently, Robinson will be starting in that game.” – SNY’s Ian Begley
That starting five—Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Hart—has played more minutes than any other unit in the league this year. That said, it’s been a consistent net negative, including being outscored by 29 points in 43 minutes against Indiana across the first two games of the ECF.
Robinson, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game in the playoffs, could bring a different dynamic to the best Knicks players with his size and rebounding, and his impact, albeit in smaller sample sizes, has been notable. Mitch’s play in Game 2, where he grabbed nine boards and blocked three shots off the bench, fueled a run that gave us all hope for a minute.
Hart, meanwhile, has remained productive overall but is seeming to struggle to influence the game in his usual ways by failing to deal with Indiana’s pace.
The move could also help in a matchup-driven way, with the aim of better handling Indiana’s frontcourt duo of Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam, the former who can’t deal with Robinson’s frame and the latter who is coming off barbequing the Knicks at MSG.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has repeatedly defended the starters, but he said post-Game 2 that changes could be coming.
“We always look at everything,” Thibodeau said.
Not a long time we’ll have to wait to see if anything at all happens, with Game 3 tipping off Sunday in Indianapolis as New York enters the affair 2-0 in the series.
Don’t bet on a change, but here’s hoping.