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Knicks fall to Wizards as Ntilikina shines

There were plenty of issues in the Knicks' loss, but Ntilikina outshone them all

Alex Wolfe

If the Knicks' matchup with the Wizards Tuesday night was a wave chart (and trust, it was), Frank Ntilikina's brilliant performance was a straight line going through the middle, anchoring the night for New York and those who have been waiting for a breakout performance from the third-year guard.

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The Knicks went down 18-4 on the road early to Washington, forcing two timeouts by Mike Miller in the first four minutes of action. His solution was a radical one — pulling the entire starting five and putting in all reserves.

Led by Ntilikina and Bobby Portis, the Knicks entered the first quarter break down just five, and found themselves up by 16 points at the half after Portis poured in 16 points on 7-10 shooting and Ntilikina had 12 points, six assists and two steals.

In a stroke of... well, something, Mike Miller trotted out the same starting lineup in the third quarter, which predictably led to the Knicks surrendering the lead that the reserves managed to build up in the second quarter. By the end of the third quarter, the game was tied, and with momentum on their side, the Wizards managed to once again push the lead out to as much as 14 before eventually winning by a final score of 122-115.

But none of that really mattered, given how Ntilikina played. The 21-year-old Frenchman became the youngest player in Knicks history to ever put up a 20-10 double-double with a final line of 20 points (a new career high), 10 assists, two rebounds and two steals on 6-9 shooting in 30 minutes.

What was most impressive, however, was how Ntilikina went about getting those points and assists. Even if he hadn't cracked the 20-point plateau for the first time in his career, this was easily the most diverse offensive offering of his young career. A typically good Ntilikina night on offense features a couple of 3-pointers and maybe one nice layup. This game had a little bit of everything. Step-back 3-pointers? Check.

Finishing through contact and drawing fouls? Absolutely. Ntilikina finished some tough layups like the one below while also getting to the line for four attempts (he actually shot 5-6 from the stripe, but two were technical free throws).

He even managed to bring out a very advanced look in the post, juking his defender out of his shoes.

And, of course, Ntilikina managed to wow with some of his 10 assists, displaying the vision that makes it seem preposterous that he's consistently doubted as being a point guard at the NBA level.

Of course, finding the consistency to make something like this performance a reality more often will be the key for Ntilikina going forward. This isn't the first scoring outburst he's ever had, and it surely won't be the last, but he will need to start producing 12-to-15 point games on a more consistent basis if he hopes to be a starting point guard in the future.

Regardless, it was a show of the tantalizing potential that comes with Ntilikina's significant physical measurables — if he can pair a somewhat consistent offensive game with his 6-foot-5 frame, 7-foot wingspan and defensive positional fluidity as a point guard, he'll have a job in the NBA for 15 years or more.

The aforementioned strange rotation decisions did nothing to help the Knicks in this game, however. In a truly bizarre turn of events, every player that started for the Knicks had a negative plus/minus (highlighted by Moe Harkless' -25 in just 12 minutes) and every player to come off the bench had a positive.

Maybe one of the least aesthetically-pleasing lineups that Miller could have fielded — Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Julius Randle and Bobby Portis — predictably struggled to stop anything on defense and allowed the Wizards to pull away in the fourth on their way to rebuilding their game-high 14-point lead.

But again, none of that seemed to matter. At this point during another lost season, it's common practice to stop looking at the final scores of games and start looking at the individual results achieved by the younger players. On this night, it was Frank Ntilikina's time to shine, and shine he did. The final 17 games of the season should have plenty of moments of their own, perhaps with more from Ntilikina as well.

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Alex Wolfe
ALEX WOLFE

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