Knicks Notebook: Josh Hart playing through pain, once again

PHILADELPHIA — OG Anunoby wasn’t the only point of interest on the Knicks’ injury report.

The Knicks downgraded Josh Hart to questionable with a left thumb sprain on Thursday before bumping him up to probable ahead of tipoff for Game 3 on Friday. Head coach Mike Brown ruled Hart — and Mitchell Robinson, who missed Game 2 with an undisclosed illness — as available immediately after ruling Anunoby out with a right hamstring strain.

Hart said he let out a sigh of relief when X-rays revealed there was no break in his thumb.

“At that point I kind of figured what it was and I knew I could play with it, so went out there,” he said at his locker ahead of tipoff on Friday. Hart will begrudgingly wear tape on his injured thumb. “I don’t like it. So this one [the right hand], I’m going to raw dog this one.”

Hart entered the season with a splint in his right ring finger, sustained back spasms in the Abu Dhabi preseason opener against the 76ers then had another lower back injury this season. He said he will play through the pain and figure out whether or not he needs surgery during the summer.

“It’s something I’ll revisit this offseason,” he said. “There’s people that’s played through this. [Philly’s] got someone on their team that played through it and won the championship.”

Hart shot a career-best 41.3% from 3-point range this season but shot 21% from deep in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks and 28.6% through the first two games of the second-round series against the Sixers.

BRIDGES TO THE MAX

Brown continued to praise the job Mikal Bridges has done defending Tyrese Maxey.

“Maxey’s a great player, and you’re not going to stop Tyrese. Mikal has had most of the responsibility at the point of the ball, and so the point of the ball, you’ve got to be locked in guarding Maxey, you’ve gotta give multiple effort and you’ve gotta make him feel you without fouling because he’s a great player. Mikal is trying like the dickens to do that, and he’s doing a pretty good job with it based on who Maxey is.”