Knicks’ ‘soft’ starters hit rock bottom with Tom Thibodeau dug in

Mikal Bridges said it best.

He didn’t pull any punches. 

Really, how could he? The problem has been that bad. That glaring. That recurring. 

Why are the starters struggling so much when on the court together? 

“Maybe,” Mikal Bridges said after the Knicks’ 114-109 Game 2 loss to the Pacers on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, “we’re playing a little too soft in the beginning of halves.” 

Friday played out like it has so many times this postseason. 

It was so predictable to anyone who has followed the team, or anyone who has taken a glance at the metrics. 

Knicks starters got off to another rough start, quickly falling behind 19-11.

Then Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride entered and completely changed the tenor of the game. 

The Knicks immediately ripped off a 15-5 run to end the first quarter when they were on the court together, turning an eight-point deficit to a two-point lead. 

But coach Tom Thibodeau trotted his starting five — Jalen Brunson, Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns — out to start the third quarter, and they went from leading by three at halftime to down by three, a six-point swing, when Robinson checked back in with 4:18 left in the quarter. 

Knicks starters are minus-81 when on the court together this postseason.

This series alone, it’s minus-29. All five were on the court together for the Knicks’ colossal fourth-quarter collapse in Game 1 as well. 

“Collectively, we gotta get it together,” Brunson said. “That’s really it.” 

Throughout the regular season, Thibodeau often said the Knicks were “without our starting center” in reference to Robinson.

Clearly, the intent was originally for Towns and Robinson to start together and Hart to come off the bench. 

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But Thibodeau has been stubborn about inserting Robinson or changing anything about the starting unit. 

“We always look at everything,” Thibodeau said bluntly after the loss. 

He gave Robinson and McBride extended time Friday, though. Robinson first entered with 5:19 left in the first quarter and wasn’t subbed out until 1:42 remained in the second quarter.

McBride entered with 4:42 left in the first quarter and played the entire second quarter. 

The Knicks were plus-13 with Robinson and plus-9 with McBride during that stretch, turning an early deficit into a halftime lead. They both finished at plus-six. Meanwhile, three of the five starters — Bridges, Towns and Hart — finished in the negative. 

“We have to figure out ways — I think he played 30 minutes — figure out ways if he can play more,” Hart said of Robinson. “We’re great with him on. We all got to be willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team.” 

Yes, Hart’s sentiment about Robinson is true. But it’s a major problem if the starting unit can’t function together.