Daily Knicks
Fansided

New York Knicks: Five takeaways from the season opener

By Maxwell Ogden

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 19: Alex Abrines #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks battle for the ball during the first half of a NBA game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 19, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 19: Alex Abrines #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks battle for the ball during the first half of a NBA game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 19, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- OCTOBER 19: Frank Ntilikina #11 of the New York Knicks handles the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 19, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Sr./NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- OCTOBER 19: Frank Ntilikina #11 of the New York Knicks handles the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 19, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Sr./NBAE via Getty Images) /

5. The Rotations Are In Flux

Ron Baker entered the game before Frank Ntilikina, and Kyle O’Quinn received court time before Willy Hernangomez. If you followed the season opener on Twitter, your timeline were likely bombarded with posts about those two polarizing truths.

Context could establish that Ntilikina is coming off of a knee injury, but these surprising decisions establish one truth in its clearest form: The rotations are in flux.

Hernangomez played four minutes in his first regular season game since being named to the 2017 All-Rookie First Team. Ntilikina played eight minutes in his first regular season game since being selected at No. 8 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Both Baker and O’Quinn had positive impacts on the Knicks’ performance, but Hernangomez and Ntilikina are foundational pieces who were forgotten in the season opener.

It’s plausible that Baker and O’Quinn played well enough that head coach Jeff Hornacek chose to ride the hot hand. It’s also within the realm of possibility that the Knicks are attempting to increase O’Quinn’s trade value by giving him early minutes.

It’s also possible that the Knicks are aware of the logjam down low and are attempting to provide equal opportunities to all players involved before coming to a final decision.

No matter the reason, the rotations are quite clearly in flux.

Home/Knicks News