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New York Knicks guard Evan Fournier sat out France’s 90-72 win over Lithuania on Wednesday with a sprained ankle. But former Knicks lottery pick Frank Ntilikina stepped up in his absence.
Ntilikina scored 11 points and grabbed three rebounds off the bench to help France coast to their fourth straight victory in as many tuneup games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Guerschon Yabusele led the way with 15 points for France, with Rudy Gobert adding 14 and six rebounds, while veteran guard Nando De Colo chipped in 13 points and eight assists.
Fournier was a late scratch for the tune-up match. The French Basketball Federation, however, labeled Fournier’s injury as minor, which he suffered during their 86-67 victory over Venezuela last Monday.
Fournier had back-to-back big outings for France before the injury.
The 30-year-old Knicks guard had 20 points, four rebounds and two assists in France’s 80-69 win over Montenegro last week before producing 13 points, five rebounds and four assists against Venezuela.
France will play Lithuania again on Friday, this time in their opponents’ homecourt in Vilnius. But there is still no update if Fournier would play.
The injury is a dampener to Fournier’s redemption bid following his worst NBA season, in which he only appeared in a career-low 27 games.
Fournier is hoping to get traded after Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau dropped him from the rotation. He is banking on a stellar run with France to expedite his departure from New York.
“I would be shot [if I stay]. I’m going to be traded, it’s not possible otherwise. Or I’d be stuck, and so would they. They have several players with big contracts coming in. Unless they want to pay a crazy luxury tax… If I stayed, it would be a disaster basketball-wise for my career,” Fournier told L’Equipe last month. “I can manage a year without playing. Two… that would be terrible.”
Hornets Pick up Frank Ntilikina
Ntilikina signed a partially guaranteed one-year deal with the Hornets, who lost another former Knicks guard, Dennis Smith Jr., to the Brooklyn Nets in free agency.
Ntilikina, who spent his first four seasons with the Knicks after getting selected eighth overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, appeared in 47 games with the Dallas Mavericks last season.
Ntilikina projects to replace Smith’s defensive presence off the bench for the Hornets. The 25-year-old French guard has NBA career averages of 4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Knicks, Josh Hart Finalizing 4-Year, $81 Million Extension
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Hart is finalizing a four-year year extension worth $81 million with the Knicks after opting into his $12.9 million player option for the 2023-2024 season in June. The new deal, which gives Hart a total of $94 million over the next five seasons, can become official as early as Thursday.
The 28-year-old guard played a pivotal role in the Knicks’ postseason run after arriving from Portland at the February trade deadline. The Knicks went 17-8 with Hart, including winning their first nine games, to finish the regular season as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Hart knocked down 52% from downtown in 25 regular-season games with the Knicks. He lifted the Knicks bench into the league’s top four in net rating (+3.2). Hart averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds, the best among guards, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals during his first 25 games with the Knicks.
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