Tom Thibodeau had an opening in his 10-man rotation with starting point guard Elfrid Payton, who missed his first game of the season with a hamstring injury against the Kings on Thursday.
Instead of returning to Austin Rivers, Thibodeau threw one Surprise and bet on the vicious French point guard, whose only luck this season was bad luck.
On his first appearance since December 29th, Ntilikina didn’t look rusty at all. He had three steals, scored seven points and was a plus-17 in 23:35 minutes when the Knicks smashed Kings 140-121 in the dizzying garden.
Ntilikina sounded like he was in a hotel room for a week been trapped. In fact, in Miami, he followed the COVID-19 contact tracing protocols. This was followed by a sprained knee that cost him three weeks.
« It was a long stretch, » said the longest reigning Knick and his 2017 lottery. « There was so much luck and motivation to do more. » / p> With a red « Vale » hat, his relief was palpable. Ntilikina will be a restricted free agent and his future is unclear.
« If you come back from a long stretch with [Thibodeau] I’ll be more comfortable on the pitch, » said Ntilikina. “I was so happy to be on the pitch and to be able to keep up with my team-mates. I was very happy and had a lot of energy. I definitely felt good. «
In his climax, Ntilikina De’Aaron Fox pulled out, took a quick break and whipped a pass for a 3-pointer to Immanuel Quickley. Depending on Payton’s status, the Ntilikina-Quickley tandem could be a thing now.
Rivers was the only player who didn’t play on Thursday – not even in garbage time and he expects to be traded.
« It was matchups, » said Thibodeau. « I wanted to take a look at Frank. We have great confidence in everyone on the squad. It was Frank’s opportunity, he went in and took it and played well. He was fantastic. «
The only downside of the evening was clear evidence that rookie Tyrese Haliburton was in will transform a special point guard.
The Knicks got a chance to draw Haliburton with the number 8 in the November draft but passed it on to Obi Toppin.
« He was great for them, » said Thibodeau. “Very talented, gifted. If he plays several positions, he can shoot the ball. Good size. Can get into the paint. He’s having a very good season for her. «
After scoring 16 points against the Knicks in January, Haliburton scored 17 points on Thursday with four assists, four steals and four rebounds. Toppin was mostly a non-factor in 17 minutes, apart from a late ski Fast break dunk. He finished with three dots.
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