NEW YORK — Should Josh Hart be moved to bench?

It’s been a question floating around the Knicks — from the outside, not within — for a starting lineup that has struggled to generate quality offense, defend or get out to quick starts with consistency in recent weeks.

The Knicks have penned Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges in as starters for the last two seasons. Hart has been the swing piece: He was relegated to a bench role when the Knicks fell into an 0-2 series deficit in the Eastern Conference finals last season, then found himself coming off the bench to start the year under head coach Mike Brown.

Brown made the change a few games into the regular season to put Hart back into the starting lineup. Nights like Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers serve as stark reminders why — because Hart doesn’t only connect his teammates to one another in true glue-guy fashion.

He also has nights where he’s rolling offensively. He has nights where he looks unstoppable.

The Pacers had no answer for Hart on Tuesday, as the Knicks — shorthanded with Brunson (neck soreness) sidelined due to injury — blew them out of the water in a 136-110 victory at Madison Square Garden. New York’s versatile forward, often likened to a Swiss-army knife, finished with a game-high 33 points and seven rebounds to go with five assists and two steals.

Hart shot 12 of 13 from the field and made all five of his 3-point attempts. He scored 33 points in just 26 minutes and watched a large portion of the second half from the bench.

“I think the main thing is him connecting the group. I’m not saying he is Andre Iguodala or his game like is like Andre Iguodala’s, but there are a lot of similarities where you watch him, you’re like, ‘oh my gosh, he’s a great shooter,' ” Brown said ahead of tipoff on Tuesday. “But you’re like he’s pretty good at this, he’s pretty good at that, he’s really good in a lot different areas. But more importantly, he connects the group, and having a guy like that especially to start games is huge.”

Hart now owns the second-most efficient 30-point game by any NBA player this season. Only Indiana’s Ivica Zubac has had a better performance: 33 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the field, one more make and attempt than Hart on Tuesday.

Hart is also only the second player to score 30 or more while shooting 100% on more than three 3-point attempts in a game. He is second only to former Knicks point guard Cameron Payne, who shot 8 of 8 from downtown and 9 of 10 from the field in a 32-point performance against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“For me, like I said, with him missing all the preseason, and me getting used to how we can play with him, the different ways people guard us with him on the floor took some time, but he’s been fantastic giving us that energy, giving us the connectivity we needed with that starting group and then doing the little things,” Brown continued. “Offensive glass, pushing the pace, getting off in transition. He’s a switchable guy, he’s a physical guy and a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet that he does that helps with connectivity as well.”

It’s a tough sell moving a player fresh off a red-hot scoring performance to the bench, plus Brown likes Hart as a secondary playmaker alongside Brunson in the starting lineup.

“Not just for [the starting] five, but yeah. Especially when Tyler (Kolek), as a young point guard, is on the floor, we try to keep Josh out there with him,” said Brown. “Just to help in that area at times. He was still kind of finding his way; so Josh is a great secondary ball handler within the group.”

OG Anunoby added 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jose Alvarado, starting in place of Brunson, scored 16 points and handed out 10 assists.

The Knicks recorded 38 assists on 54 made field goals and had 24 assists on their first 28 made shots.

Meanwhile, no Pacers players scored more than 16 points, though all five Indiana starters scored in double figures, with former Knicks lottery pick Obi Topping scoring 15 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

The Knicks shot 54% from the field and 44% in an 18-of-41 shooting display from deep.

Next up, the Knicks get two key days of rest before a cross-bridge rivalry showdown against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

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