NEW YORK — Josh Hart’s jersey tasted like resentment.A man who has done all of the work — hand placement, wide base, visualize, follow-through — felt betrayed in the moment that this all was meant for. Midway through the first quarter of Thursday’s Game 2 Eastern Conference finals matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks’ forward stood alone, just him, a basketball and a target, like he has done a million times in his life. This, too, was by design, as the Cavaliers’ defense came into the series ignoring Hart, a streaky shooter surrounded by more fatal offensive threats, as if he were the little kid on the playground begging to play ball with the older boys.Hart rose, the ball rotated perfectly leaving his fingertips, and then his shot bruised the rim. It was his third straight 3-point miss to start the game and eighth of the young series. Hart turned toward his bench. He stuffed his face with his jersey. He tried to squeeze the pulp out of the ball. It was yet another moment of vulnerability from someone who always wears his heart on his sleeve.“Those first three … they felt good,” Hart said. “I was kind of frustrated with it because, obviously, I’ve been putting in the reps (with assistant coaches). I was frustrated at first. I was like, ‘Bro, this is not translating right now.'”The way to alleviate self-resentment, though, is by giving yourself grace. Hart’s moment of frustration was short-lived. He gathered himself. He remained confident in the work. Then he drilled five of his next eight 3-pointers en route to a 26-point performance in the Knicks’ 109-93 victory that gave them a 2-0 series lead.As Hart has gotten older, he’s learning to be nicer to himself. At his core, Hart is a perfectionist, which is ironic given that the beauty of his game is that it’s helter-skelter in all the best ways imaginable. He’s a competitor who makes something out of nothing, who sees the game in a way that makes some of his peers jealous.