Back in the groove
CLEVELAND — His three-game penance is over, and Frank Ntilikina said his mind is now “free’’ after he looked like a young Tony Parker on French Heritage Night, Sunday at the Garden.
Indeed, Ntilikina looked like a superstar in the second half of the Knicks’ 119-107 loss to the Hornets, scoring all of his career-high 18 points in a dizzying span of 7:38, swishing 3-pointers and snaking to the hoop for lovely driving baskets.
It came in front of an adoring Garden crowd and fellow French point guard-extraordinaire Parker, who scored 16 points off the bench for Charlotte. They exchanged jerseys after the game, continuing a teacher-student relationship. (Parker once tried to get Ntilikina to play for the French pro team he owned.)
Ntilikina, the 20-year-old 2017 lottery pick, is back in good graces with the Knicks after sitting out three straight games due to subpar play.
“I tried to take the most out of the experience, sitting on the bench and to just watch from outside the game and my team,’’ Ntilikina said. “Where I need to get better. That was the plan. Working hard at practice. So I wasn’t playing, but I was always cheering and getting advice as well for my progression, I was seeing from another point of view where I could get better.”
Ntilikina’s return to the Knicks’ orbit began during Saturday’s loss to the Nets, when coach David Fizdale put him in late in the third quarter and he spearheaded a furious fourth-quarter rally.
Last week, Fizdale made a curious remark during Ntilikina’s exile, saying the club can go forward next season with so many young players. Ntilikina has two years left on his rookie deal, but has trade value. The Knicks could open up needed 2019 cap room by trading his contract for a future first-round pick if they don’t believe he’s the point guard of the future.
Perhaps Ntilikina felt he had nothing to lose by going full bore and eliminating the hesitancy that had plagued him. In the two games immediately before his three on the bench, Ntilikina went scoreless, looking nothing like he did Sunday versus Charlotte before fouling out on a questionable charging call that got Fizdale ejected.
“I felt comfortable, I was aggressive and my mind was free,’’ Ntilikina said. “So I took the shots with a lot of confidence and I think that’s why they went in.
“Percentage comes and goes, so for a shooter you just got to put in work and get reps at practice. Some games it will go in, some games it won’t. Actually the other game it went in, so I was happy about it.”
Now he’s in store for plenty of action with Trey Burke (sprained knee) potentially out for the upcoming road trip to face the Cav- aliers, Hornets and Pacers, which begins Wednesday.
“Like I told him, ‘I’m always going to come back to you,’ ” Fizdale said. “I’m never going to bury any of these guys. It’s happened with every single guy. They went to the bench for a few games but when they came back they played awesome. No one likes sitting down. But at the same time what they did in here, why they were sitting, that’s what got them right. They worked at it.’’
As much as Ntilikina loves his heritage, he is undecided on whether to play for the French national team this summer in the prestigious World Cup.
“I think it’s really early to know if I’m going to be there,’’ Ntilikina said. “Because you have to wait until end of the season to know what’s going on with your body. How long is the season. And you’re going to have to make the better choice to know what’s best for you.”