Elfrid Payton is useless in the Knicks starting lineup
The Knicks went with their traditional starting lineup of Elfird Payton, Reggie Bullock, R.J. Barrett, Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel in Game 1 on Sunday night, but having Payton in the starting lineup seems useless at this point.
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Derrick Rose entered the game for Elfrid Payton at the 7:45 mark in the first-quarter and then he did not play again until he started the second-half, where Rose entered the game for him at the 8:14 mark in the third-quarter.
That was it, that was all that Elfrid Payton played. Two four minute shifts for Elfird Payton in the starting rotation and his night was done. Quite honestly, I am not really sure why Payton is still in the starting lineup because he does not do anything. He was 0-3 in this game with 1 assists and 1 foul, not helping the Knicks one bit.
Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and even rookie Immanuel Quickley have been much more efficient and productive than Elfrid Payton all season long, so why is he still in the starting rotation?
He does at times show flashes of being a strong one-on-one defender, but overall, there is no reason for Payton to be starting and the Knicks need to bench him if they want to beat the Hawks. Those 8 minutes he was on the court against the Hawks in Game 1 could’ve been 8 minutes that the Knicks had another scorer on the court and who knows, maybe they get 2-3 more points that give them the victory in this game.
