The applause was thunderous when Mitchell Robinson was announced as a starter to the Garden crowd for the first time in this year’s playoffs. 

With Karl-Anthony Towns scoring 24 points after coming into the game listed as questionable Thursday due to a knee contusion suffered late in Game 4, Robinson also contributed a handful of key plays at both ends of the floor to help the Knicks keep their season alive with a 111-94 victory in Game 5 at MSG. 

Robinson, who replaced Josh Hart in the starting lineup to play alongside Towns in the middle two games in Indiana, finished with six points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in 20 minutes. 

Those defensive stats all occurred within a few Indiana possessions in the middle of the third quarter: a rejection of a Tyrese Haliburton drive, another block against Thomas Bryant and a steal off a bad pass by Andrew Nembhard that helped key a 10-0 run that led to a 72-52 lead.

He also scooped up an offensive rebound for a put-back during that sequence. 

“Huge. That’s why we need him,” Hart said after the game. “Mitch is someone that can protect the rim, someone that can guard on the perimeter, and someone that can crash the glass and get offensive rebounds and get us second-chance shots and second-chance points. 

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“When he does that, it lights a fuse for everybody. That’s what we need from him to start the game, and that’s what we need from him any time he’s out there.” 

Asked before the game about sticking with the same lineup for a third straight game, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau replied, “It’s just matchups and what’s going on in the game. Sometimes, it’s impacted by foul trouble as well.” 

To wit, Towns netted 13 points in the second quarter to register 17 and 10 boards by halftime, but KAT picked up his fourth foul with the Knicks up 72-52 with 6:24 left in the third. 

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle attempted to take advantage by intentionally fouling Robinson with the Hack-A-Mitch strategy employed by the Pistons and Celtics in the first two rounds.

Robinson has converted just 22 of 56 (39.3) from the stripe in 17 postseason appearances this spring. 

Robinson missed two free throws with 4:17 left in the quarter, and he was replaced by Precious Achiuwa due to Towns’ foul trouble.

Achiuwa chipped in a bucket in traffic during a 12-0 run that helped stretch the lead to 17 entering the final period. 

Robinson has logged fewer minutes than Hart in each of the three games since the switch by a sizable average of 34.7 to 22.7.