Game 3 between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks is set to tipoff on Friday night in “The A.” After splitting the first two games of the series, Game 3 has the expectations to be every bit as thrilling as the first two contests. For the Knicks to come out on top, it's time for Tom Thibodeau to make the move.

“The move” is exactly what all Knicks fans think it is. New York fans know what is being referenced. The Elfrid Payton experience needs to be put on the back burner, for good.

Payton has been abysmal for the Knicks most of the regular season and the first two games of this series against Trae Young and the Hawks. Yet Thibodeau continues to go to bat for the point guard and continues to have him in the starting lineup.

Now Payton started and only played five minutes in Game 2, so the thought may be that isn't much to affect the game. Considering the Knicks have scored 16 and 20 points respectively in the first quarters of Game 1 and Game 2, some may beg to differ.

The problem for Payton is the offensive numbers almost across the board are at near staggering career low marks for the guard. Where the problem gets peppered in is that his defense has been subpar, too.

A solution to the problem is where things get tricky.

The easy move is to start Derrick Rose and move on with your happy day. The issue is that Rose has been such a spark off the bench for the Knicks and has great rhythm with the unit he works with which includes guys like Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks. So keeping Rose in his sixth man role seems the most ideal.

So the answer? Start Frank Ntilikina if you're the Knicks. It sounds dramatic on the surface, sure. But Ntilikina is a lengthy, quick defender who isn't great shooting the ball on offense but is far more capable than Payton. Starting Ntilikina and giving him the early minutes could help spell forcing Rose into action for 40 minutes again and be a nice buffer from the first unit to the second unit.

It may not work, the only way to find out is to try. But one thing is for certain, the Knicks and Tom Thibodeau can not put Elfrid Payton back in the starting lineup for Game 3.