It is rare to see Frank Ntilikina get riled up.
But after the reserved Knicks point guard scored his NBA-high 15 points in Saturday’s streak-busting Garden rout of Charlotte, the Frenchman didn’t like to hear Jeff Hornacek’s concern about his defensive matchups the past two games.
According to Hornacek, he gave Ntilikina limited minutes against Philadelphia on Thursday to avoid the rookie facing 6-10, rookie-of-the-year candidate Ben Simmons. And Hornacek wouldn’t start him Saturday despite Courtney Lee’s absence due to the 6-9 presence of shooting guard Nic Batum. Too much size and strength for the 19-year-old Ntilikina to handle.