Ntilikina eager to return but staying cautious
FOR Knicks fans who are anxious to see some more of the team’s first-round pick, you’ll have to stay patient.
Rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina will miss Sunday’s preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets battling his reoccurring knee injury.
“I’m feeling better, better than after the game,” the Knicks guard said. “I did a lot of treatment on my knee. So now it’s day to day and see. I will probably not play tomorrow. Monday will be the best, it’s going to be up to the medical staff.”
Ntilikina, who missed Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards and the entire Summer League, practiced briefly in Saturday’s shoot around, but will not risk re-injuring his ailing knee.
“This is a very long season, 82 games you know, so doing stupid things trying to play even if my knee is not alright is not smart,” the French guard said. “So it would be best for me be to be healthy and to be ready for the whole season.”
The eighth overall pick appeared in Tuesday’s preseason opener against the Nets, scoring five points and adding three assists in 18 minutes. Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek is eager to his have the rookie on the floor and has hopes of having him play in Monday night’s preseason matchup against the Houston Rockets.
“(For) a young player, the more experience he can get, especially with our guys, the better,” said Hornacek. “But we do have to weigh having an injury stay aggravated and he can’t perform at his best, it’s going to be tough enough on him as a young kid in this league. So we have to find the balance.”
During Porzingis’ tenure as a Knick he has seen a ton of personnel changes, including three coaching changes, new management and a 63-101 record in two seasons.
“These three years, every year it’s something different,” Porzingis said. “New people, new faces, new players, everybody. You come in and you try to adjust as quick as possible and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m not blaming anyone that we’re a new team or this and that, we’re just getting to work and we’re trying to make this work as soon as possible.”
With Carmelo Anthony now in Oklahoma City, Porzingis has the keys to the organization and wants the team to hone in on its defensive efforts. The Knicks were 23rd in points allowed per game last season. New York’s opponents averaged 108 points per game against them.
“If you want to be a winning team, you’ve got to play good defense,” said Porzingis. “My first two seasons, we weren’t a good defensive team. This year, we’re going to try to make that an improvement. We’re working on that and hopefully we can be a defensive team and that will bring good results to us.”