ORLANDO, Fla. — If ever there was a time for Frank Ntilikina to seize the moment, it is on this two-game road trip.
But the Frenchman won’t make his impact in the starting lineup, as Knicks coach David Fizdale continued to try to reinvent the wheel by bringing Ntilikina off the bench despite his point-guard shortage Wednesday against the Magic.
In another unorthodox move by the head coach, Ntilikina was bypassed and Fizdale used the starting backcourt of RJ Barrett at point guard and Wayne Ellington at shooting guard. Barrett failed as opening-night point guard starter last week.
Asked if he thought the slight could affect Ntilikina’s confidence, Fizdale said, “No, not at all. He’s not even thinking like that. He understands exactly what I’m doing. I communicate to these guys why I’m doing what I’m doing. He’s going to have to play a ton of minutes [Wednesday]. I can’t afford to lose him to foul trouble. So I’ll spread him out. Frank’s our lone pure point. I don’t want to mess around and get either one in foul trouble.’’
Dennis Smith Jr. is in North Carolina mourning the loss of his stepmother and won’t rejoin the club on the trip which continues in Boston on Friday. Elfrid Patyon has a strained right hamstring and is out indefinitely.
Kadeem Allen, who shined as a two-way G-League player late last season, has been sidelined since training camp because of a sore knee and is also out for a while.
“I went from having four point guards to 1 ¹/₂ ,” Fizdale said at Wednesday morning’s shootaround.
That “half-a-point guard” will start, however, even though Barrett has done his best work at shooting guard.
Ntilikina, who has yet to score, finally got some real action in Monday’s win over the Bulls. Though he missed all six of his shots, Ntilikina drew strong praise from Fizdale after the game for organizing the team and playing stifling defense. He was on the court during the game-closing 15-0 run.
“He got great looks,” Fizdale said. “He got some really great looks. He got his shot blocked at the rim, but he had a good opportunity to finish there. And that’ll happen. The ball will fall. But I was just really happy with the way he controlled our tempo. He got us organized. He got guys shots. He really defended.
“As long as he’s taking those shots, I don’t care. That’s all that matters. If he’s open, he’s got to shoot it. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
Confidence and a lack of creativity on offense has always been the issues for the 2017 first-round draft pick, tabbed by the Phil Jackson/Clarence Gaines regime. Ntilikina was given scant playing time in this season’s first three games — 2:45 in the opener, not at all in the second game and 18 seconds in the home opener, during which the fans chanted, “We want Frank!”
“I’ve got to be ready anyway for any situation,” Ntilikina said before learning he wouldn’t start. “It’s sad to see my teammates go down. As a player and as a good teammate, you’ve got to be ready for every opportunity for your team. Fourteen seconds or nothing, really, as a basketball player, when a coach calls you, you’ve got to be ready. Start or coming off the bench, any minutes on the court, you’ve got to give everything you’ve got for the team.”
Ntilikina’s 3-point shot looked shaky Monday when he went 0-for-4 from deep.
“I felt good,” Ntilikina said. “Same mindset every game: just trying to bring everything I can bring to the team on both sides of the court. If my shot doesn’t fall, I’m going to bring energy, organize the team, push the pace and just have a presence out here. I know the shots will fall with work and confidence. I’ll keep shooting. It will come with rhythm. Shots aren’t everything in the game, so you’ve got to be able to be a good player and bring a value in other stuff.”
The return of Smith, who had been struggling, is up in the air. As is the return of swingman Reggie Bullock, whose sister Kiosha Moore was shot and killed in Baltimore late Monday night.
“We told [Smith], take as much time. He and Reggie both,” Fizdale said. “It’s just a really sad situation for both our guys. We’re just going to try to make sure we can do anything we can for them and their families and support them any way we can. … This is the second time this has happened to [Bullock’s] family, he’s lost a sister [previously] to this stuff. Hopefully he can come back and feel love from everybody.”