The Knicks didn’t come close to winning this past Thursday in San Antonio, but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich did notice one thing: Phil Jackson drafted a good one at point guard.
Sixteen years after Tony Parker became the NBA’s first French point guard, Frank Ntilikina is doing his native country proud in weaving a commendable rookie year as the No. 8 pick in the draft. Ntilikina played his season-high minutes (31:43) in San Antonio and notched a season-high 11 assists. He also slowed down Parker with his reputed on-ball pressure after the French legend got off to a fast start.
“I think he looked solid,’’ Popovich said before the Spurs-Knicks rematch Tuesday at the Garden. “I thought he looked confident. He didn’t look fearful. He wasn’t overly impressed being in the NBA. He played. He seemed like a pretty comfortable guy on the court. I’m sure the Knicks did their homework on his insides.’’
Ntilikina was genuinely moved to hear Popovich’s compliment.
“I’m thankful for it, from a coach like that,’’ Ntilikina said. “It’s hard to impress him. I’m really thankful. It’s motivating to me to work harder on my game and become more comfortable on the court.’’
As starting point guard Jarrett Jack has slumped, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said during their three-game trip he was looking to increase the workload for Ntilikina, though wasn’t ready to start him.
“Not yet,’’ he said over the weekend.
Ntilikina was dealing with an illness Tuesday night when the Knicks lost to the Spurs 100-91. He had three points and an assist in 16 minutes.
Entering the Spurs game, Ntilikina has played more than 28 minutes in each of the previous three contests, when he hadn’t reached that amount in any game before then.
“I’m glad and ready to play a lot of minutes,’’ Ntilikina said. “I think the coach is giving me more trust, more minutes. I think I’m getting more comfortable on the court. He sees that. I think I can help the team more now than I was before.”
Indeed, the Ntilikina-Kristaps Porzingis pairing has looked good on the analytics front, with the Knicks statistically a better team when they are together on the floor. Hornacek said he believes that to be the case because Ntilikina has longer arms than Jack and can find Porzingis easier in pick-and-roll situations when teams switch a big man on him.
Meanwhile, Jack has started since the season’s fourth game when he was promoted over Ramon Sessions. But recently Jack had sputtered, leading Hornacek to give Sessions a shot Saturday in New Orleans after Jack started out poorly.
Sessions didn’t impress and Jack was back to start the second half against the Pelicans. And Jack had a terrific half, one of the heroes in their rare road win, stalling any momentum for Ntilikina to start in the near future.
Jack scored nine fourth-quarter points (15 overall) and hit the game-winning free throws with nine seconds left when he penetrated into the lane after pick-and-roll with Porzingis.
Jack, who missed a key late free throw in Chicago days before to cost the Knicks the game, said it wasn’t necessarily redemption.“I try to have a short-term memory, put those things to the back because you’re not going to be able to focus on the next moment if you’re still holding onto the last one, whether it be good or bad,’’ Jack said.
The road win in New Orleans salvaged the three-game trip at 1-2 and, the Knicks hope, will end the so-called road “curse’’ some players referenced on Instagram as the club moved to 3-12 away from the Garden.
The Knicks start another three-game trip in Washington on Wednesday — the second night of a back-to-back — before road games in Miami and Dallas. The Mavericks game will be heavily anticipated as Ntilikina goes up against Dennis Smith Jr., whom the Knicks passed on at No. 8.