Late run by New York Knicks falls short; 3 takeaways

3. Peculiar rotation choices by Fizdale

After rumors swirled about a no-point guard lineup, New York Knicks fans were eager to see who David Fizdale would trot out to open a fresh season.

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With Mitchell Robinson on the bench recovering from a sprained ankle, inserting Bobby Portis was a logical move. Where Fizdale scratched some heads was with his placement of Allonzo Trier in the starting lineup alongside fellow 2-guard RJ Barrett.

The decision making only got weirder from that point on. Trier played just seven minutes and the point guard duo of Dennis Smith Jr. and Frank Ntilikina saw only 13 minutes of action combined — DSJ 10 and Ntilikina three, respectively.

Four of the five starters — excluding Trier — played no fewer than 33 minutes. Marcus Morris was given 39 in his Knicks debut. Damyean Dotson, who started 40 games for New York last season, was nowhere to be found.

Fizdale finds himself in a tougher spot than most realize. He has a surplus of young talent to evaluate and veterans thinking about their next deal but only so many minutes to go around.

Still, if any two players on the Knicks are to develop chemistry this season, it starts with a consistent rotation from Fizdale that allows his guys to set up comfortably in their determined roles.