INDIANAPOLIS — You can call them “The French Connection.”
Maybe there’s some karma with newly acquired Knicks point guard Emmanuel Mudiay joining French rookie Frank Ntilikina.
Mudiay said he, too, is fluent in French, having grown up in the Congo, and they already have been bonding in that language. The trade for Mudiay had raised legitimate questions about Ntilikina’s future, but in Sunday’s 121-113 loss to the Pacers, they were on the court together for 27 minutes.
The former Nugget wouldn’t speak in any language to the Denver media this season and finally broke his silence Sunday before his double-double (14 points, 10 assists) Knicks debut, saying he’s beginning “a new chapter in my life.”
Former Knicks president Phil Jackson passed on Mudiay at No. 4 in the 2015 draft to take Kristaps Porzingis, and Mudiay can’t blame him. Sources told The Post Mudiay was relieved the Knicks passed, leery of the triangle offense. Now he’s thrilled that he’s out of Denver, where he lost his starting job, and into a non-triangle offense.
“Definitely excited,” Mudiay said. “I almost thought I was going to be here three years ago, so the fact that I’m here now is definitely a good thing. I’m happy to be here. I wanted to be here.
“It’s a new beginning. We’re young and try to grow in that aspect. … Me and Frank have been talking a little bit as well. So excited to be around those guys and I think it’ll fun.
“They didn’t make a mistake with the pick they had. They got Kristaps, so that was a good pick. But the fact that I get a chance to play with this team again is definitely exciting.”
Mudiay and Ntilikina had met before at a Basketball Without Borders function last year. Now they are part of a four-point guard rotation.
“It’s about to get better,” Mudiay said of his relationship with Ntilikina. “We’re going to grow together — at least that’s what I know is the plan right now. He’s 19, I’m 21, so we’re both kind of close in age. He speaks French. I speak French. It’s going to be fun, just trying to see how we feel each other out on the court.”
Ntilikina glowed following his 12-point evening.
“We have a lot other options on the court,’’ Ntilikina said. “It’s great. I can’t wait build a relationship on and off the court with him so we can get better.
“We can build something really great. We have kind of the same background. It’s just so exciting to have a guy like that who is young and really can build a future.”
Mudiay said he doesn’t want to look at the past nor explain his media silence in Denver.
“It was some stuff that happened,’’ he said. “I’m not expecting to do that here. Just moving on from that. That’s why I’m so happy to be here and kind of forget what happened in Denver and just try to move on in a happy manner.”
Mudiay was selected seventh in that 2015 draft, and the Nuggets went with point guard Jamal Murray the next year, also at No. 7. Murray is the starter and Denver’s future. Mudiay was in and out of the rotation to the point that Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek has concerns about his conditioning.
“Just how to fight through adversity,’’ Mudiay said of learning from his Denver experience. “Coming in at 19 — Frank can kind of speak on that. I see how he’s handling it, too. I talked to him about that. Coming out of high school I was kind of given everything, the easy route. “I think it formed me well. I didn’t hold my head down.”