New York Knicks: 3 Adjustments to make before Game 2

New York Knicks: Frank Ntilikina should be used as more than a specialist

Ntilikina was beaten by Trae Young on the final play of the game fair and square, but the 22-year old has shown more than enough defensive acumen this season that he should be given a slightly larger role. It’s tough to ask a player who had previously been on the court for all of 23 seconds to come out and stop someone who already had 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists at the time.

If Thibodeau trusts Ntilikina on the most crucial possession of the game, he should be able to trust him for a few more minutes in the previous quarters.

Even if there are doubts about his ability to run the offense as a point guard, he’s spent time at both shooting guard and small forward throughout his career and has definitely displayed the talent to guard those positions as well.

He also hit a ridiculous 47.9% of his threes throughout the regular season and was starting to heat up again, hitting 5 of his last 8 attempts from behind the arc before the playoffs began.

This isn’t to say he should be starting and playing 30+ minutes every game, but finding him around 5-8 minutes throughout the course of each contest would help get him better suited for the high-pressure defensive situations that he usually appears in.