New York Knicks: Frank Ntilikina proves point guard is in his future

The Influence

While Damyean Dotson was rightly the focus of Knicks fans’ praise, it was Frank Ntilikina who facilitated the offense. He tallied eight points, nine assists, two rebounds, and a steal in 32 minutes, shooting 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.

It was an encouraging performance from Ntilikina, who took on the responsibility of facilitating while Trey Burke played with a score-first mentality.

A single performance won’t change a narrative—unless the player is a fan favorite, of course—but this one should. It was yet another example of a 19-year-old rookie flashing potential that too few have been willing to embrace.

The cynics will say that these performances have been rare, but the truth is that they’ve been frequent enough to warrant optimism.

For what it’s worth, the Knicks are now 11-8 when Ntilikina records at least five assists. It’s an admittedly limited sample size, but it’s certainly an improvement over the 17-43 mark that’s been accumulated when he fails to reach that five-assist threshold.

It also coincides with the fact that the Knicks are a healthy 2.2 points per 100 possessions better when Ntilikina is on the court than when he isn’t.