5 takeaways from New York Knicks weekend back-to-back

3. Point guard settling in

Coming into the season, the New York Knicks had a point guard dilemma. You never root for injuries, but the injury to Elfrid Payton has cleared things up at the point guard position and for the better.

With Payton sidelined, Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr. have taken over and they have started to play some solid basketball. This weekend, both players turned in strong efforts.

Ntilikina gained a ton of confidence during international play this summer in the FIBA World Cup and has carried it over to the NBA regular season. He scored 17 points with six rebounds, 14 assists and six steals in the two games. Even more impressive was that he turned the ball over zero times despite playing 67 minutes.

Smith is beginning to look more comfortable and shaking off the early season rust he showed. Against the Spurs and Nets, he scored 17 points with three rebounds, nine assists, one steal and only two turnovers. He received 35 minutes in the back-to-back. He was 3-for-6 from the 3-point line in the two games as well.

The organization likes Payton, so he will presumably get back into the rotation once he is healthy. However, that may not be best for the team, as they are finding a rhythm with Ntilikina and Smith running the show.