Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith Jr. Questionable for Phoenix; Frank Could Start

The last time Frank Ntilikina started a game for the Knicks, it didn't go so well, with the team getting blown out in Miami and New York's third-year point guard adding just a single made field goal to the box score in less than 16 minutes of play.

He may be getting another chance soon. The Knicks announced that both Elfrid Payton (personal reasons) and Dennis Smith Jr. (strained left oblique) are questionable for the first game of New York's West Coast swing tomorrow night in Phoenix.

This possible opportunity comes at an interesting time for Ntilikina. He had been struggling as a starter under head coach Mike Miller, accumulating just one made field goal in six of his seven starts under the new coach. This often isn't the best indicator of the young Frenchman's total impact, but he was noticeably more tentative on offense than he'd shown many times earlier this season.

Moving to the bench has seemingly helped him regain his form though. Over 74 minutes leading the second unit, Ntilikina has had a positive 12.3 net rating in the last five games. It's a small sample size to be sure, but he's developed a clear connection with fellow Knick young'n Mitchell Robinson over that time:

So much to like in this play: the lineup + spacing, Mitch re-screening, plus Frank's no-look pass which I missed the first time watching. It may have froze Trent Jr. for a split second, but even if it didn't, it shows a good feel and progress towards manipulating defenses. pic.twitter.com/KwD5A3v0or
— Tom Piccolo (@Tom_Piccolo) January 2, 2020

It'll be interesting to see the trickle down effect this has if Payton is indeed forced to miss the game.

One Knick who has been struggling of late and could feel the brunt of this change is Taj Gibson. He's been the one rotation piece truly struggling under Miller, as the Knicks are getting outscored by 21.9 points per 100 possessions in the 162 minutes he's played over the last dozen games.

Could this be an opportunity to move both Ntilikina and Robinson into the starting lineup, especially now with sharpshooter Reggie Bullock back from his extended absence to start the season? Taking Gibson out of the rotation in favor of more spacing could help unlock an improved but at times still-struggling offense (17th in the NBA under Miller) even further.

In a stretch of games that could tell us just how real this recent Knick resurgence is, Mike Miller will definitely have some choices on his hands.