New York Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina is starting to get his feet wet in the NBA, drawing one of his toughest assignments to date in MVP runner-up James Harden on Wednesday night.

The French international matches up with his counterpart at 6-foot-5, but is at least 30 pounds under the hulking bearded assassin in a mismatch of sorts.

“It was very challenging to defend that type of player,” said Ntilikina, according to ESPN's Ian Begley — as the Houston Rockets snapped the Knicks' three-game win streak with a 119-97 outing. “So I think I could have done a better job of stopping him and I’ll definitely work to stop players like that in the future… think I learned a lot of from this game. Now I’ll just watch the film and work on my abilities.”

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Ntilikina struggled from the field, shooting a mere 1-of-7 through his 28 minutes on the floor, but he showed the raw skills that enticed the Knicks front office to select him with the eighth overall pick, racking up eight assists and five steals.

Harden led all scorers with 31 points, but suffered the usual effects of his high usage rate, going 9-of-23 from the floor and a less-than-desirable 6-of-17 from beyond the arc, racking up a game-high seven turnovers in the process.

Ntilikina will be tasked with guarding tougher matchups as the season goes on, and as he develops an NBA body, it will only be a matter of time until he taps into the full capabilities of his potential at the defensive end of the floor.