On Tuesday night at the legendary Madison Square Garden, many young stars shined in the national television spotlight when the Los Angeles Lakers visited the New York Knicks.
In what ended up being a thrilling game from start to finish, the Knicks outlasted the Lakers at home with a 113-109 victory in overtime. It was also the best game of the season so far for the Knicks' 19-year-old rookie point guard in Frank Ntilikina, who had a career-high 13 points (5-of-11 from the floor, 3-of-4 from behind the arc), five assists, and five rebounds in 29 minutes of action off the bench.
When asked about his motivation going up against Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, Ntilikina said that the approach to this game wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
“I have the same motivation going (against) every point guard in the league,” Ntilikina said, via Peter Botte of New York Daily News. “But honestly what I'm focused on is my team and how we can grow up.”
Ball, who played very well on the night, finished with 17 points, making 6-of-13 shots from the field. The 20-year-old rookie also nabbed eight boards, dished out six assists, had two steals, and blocked one shot. Frank Ntilikina was very impressed with how Lonzo Ball played on the night.
Article Continues Below“I thought it was great,” Ntilikina said of his matchup with Ball. “Playing against him was exciting. He's a great player. He's going to be great. He has size, vision, unbelievable vision of the court. I mean, he can make plays. So he's exciting, as exciting playing against all the point guards, but he's very good.”
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek was proud of Ntilikina's effort, especially when he stepped up to score seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
“Again, it's just experience You get in the league, you start playing, there's more opportunities. He did a great job early in the season in a bunch of games in the fourth quarter,” coach Hornacek said of Ntilikina.
Up next, the Knicks (14-13) will take on their crosstown rival in the Brooklyn Nets (11-15) at Barclays Center on Thursday night.