JEFF SEAT NOT HOT

Mills says Hornacek is safe as long as Knicks develop

CLEVELAND — Jeff Hornacek has the support of the front office so long as the team shows improvement. That was the underlying message Sunday from Knicks president Steve Mills, who, based on a rocky start to the season, was already diffusing speculation that the coach is on the hot seat.

“There was speculation not on our part but by the outside world,” Mills said. “This summer when Jeff and I went to Jim Dolan with a plan of how we wanted to build this team — and how we wanted the team to come together — and we just want to see progress. We want to try to win as many games as we can. We want the guys to play hard every night. The three of us we’re all on the same page as it relates to that. We just want to see the team move in a positive direction.”

Hornacek sits in the tenuous position of being hired by ousted president Phil Jackson. He didn’t help his standing with an 0-3 start that followed an 0-5 preseason, accompanied by grumblings from players that they didn’t know the playbook.

But now the Knicks are riding a two-game winning streak — which includes Sunday’s 114-95 pasting of the Cavaliers — and concerns about the direction have momentarily dissipated.

“We told him to just focus on getting the team better and finding ways to reduce the turnovers and make sure we’re improving defensively and that’s really what our goals are,” Mills said. “Jeff, (GM Scott Perry) and I talked a lot about it — we didn’t focus on the record. Our focus is on how we’re improving over the course of the season. If we do all the things we’re supposed to do from a defensive standpoint and from reducing turnovers, wins will come from that. But we have to be consistent and diligent about it.”

fragile frank starts slow

Given Frank Ntilikina’s already shaky injury history, Hornacek warned that starting the 19-year-old could be a detriment to his health — and perhaps even his development.

“If he earns that starting spot, fine. But we have to keep an eye on him, with the little bumps and bruises that he has had, to not throw him to the wolves,” Hornacek said. “We want to challenge him. And there’ll be times that he’s on some of these star guys, but we liked what he did (coming off the bench in Friday’s victory over Brooklyn). He was very good in the way he set things up. He keeps playing like that then he’s going to learn.”

Ntilikina came off the bench again Sunday versus Cleveland, committing four fouls in 16 minutes with five points, two steals and three assists. Jarrett Jack started again and received strong praise from Hornacek about how the veteran set up the offense.

Although Jack missed seven of his eight shot attempts, he picked up nine assists and the Knicks outscored the Cavs by 22 points when he was on the court.

The decision to bring Ntilikina along slowly jibes with the organization’s direction toward a long rebuild. The front office declined to include the Frenchman in trade talks for Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe.

“We’re committed to Frank and his development,” Mills said. “That’s part of what we talked about at the beginning of the year. When I came on, we talked about what we’re trying to do with this team and it centers around guys like Frank and guys like (Kristaps Porzingis).”

willY kant get off Bench

Willy Hernangomez was a healthy DNP on Sunday, which seemed to work out just fine for the Knicks as center Enes Kanter went off for 18 points and 12 boards.

Still, Mills said he’s confident Hernangomez, an All-Rookie selection last season, will return to the rotation.

“We’re not dictating who plays. We don’t tell Jeff who to play,” Mills said. “Jeff understands our strategy as a whole and we want these guys to develop. At the end of the day, we tell the players and we tell Jeff that you got to earn your minutes. Willy understands that and Willy’s done a really good job over the last week understanding what he has to do. He’s definitely stepped it up in practice. This is part of Billy’s development. He’s a guy that’s going to be with us for the next three years. We got a lot of time to work with him and he’s going to be a part of who we are.”