INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Hart was the first to admit it — loudly and directly.
He did not hide from his rough series.
“I failed the team,” Hart said after the Knicks’ 125-108 Game 6, season-ending loss to the Pacers on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “I didn’t bring it the way I should have, especially in this series. And if I played better, it could’ve been a different situation.”
Hart said he was “embarrassed” when he looked at the film of his Game 4 performance.
He wasn’t necessarily much better in Game 5, but it was masked by the Knicks’ win.
He certainly won’t like reviewing his Game 6 showing.
He’ll have an entire offseason to look it over.
Hart seemed to be in his own head after his struggles earlier in the series.
He finished with four points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field.
And his two best attributes — rebounding and ball movement — were absent. He had just six rebounds and one assist.
He played a season-low 22 minutes.
It was indicative of his series-long woes.
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For the series, Hart had nearly as many turnovers (13) as made field goals (14).
Instead of being the Knicks’ do-it-all glue guy, he was a struggle-at-all liability.
“I had some good games and then some bad games,” Hart said. “Just trying to find it, I couldn’t find it. Obviously, extremely disappointed. Could’ve and should’ve played better. That’s gonna sting for a while.”
After previously starting every game he played this year, Hart was removed from the starting lineup for the final four games of the series.
It paid some dividends to the starting lineup, as Mitchell Robinson made an impact with the unit.
But it certainly didn’t help spark Hart, who acknowledged he didn’t adjust to the bench well.
“For me, I felt like I was playing hard, trying to find it,” Hart said. “Whatever it is. I think I didn’t play how I normally play. There were some games where I had three or four turnovers and let that cause me to get out my game and make me passive because you know how costly turnovers are.”
After providing so much good this year, his lasting image was nightmarish.