Tyler Kulek is taking advantage of his first real opportunity in the Knicks’ rotation

Tyler Kulek is making the most of his first real rotation opportunity with the Knicks that was unnecessary due to an accidental injury to someone in front of him.

With Indiana State’s Cam Payne retiring and veteran Malcolm Brogdon signed during training camp, Kulick served as a backup All-Star point guard to Jalen Brunson during the Knicks’ 2-0 start in Sunday’s game at Miami.

After notching seven points and two assists in 14 minutes in the season-opening win over the Cavaliers, the sophomore guard played 13 minutes. On the bench Friday night against the Celtics With two points and four assists, albeit with three turnovers.

“I’m just trying to set up the offense and do what coach tells me to do,” Kulik said after Saturday’s practice in Tarrytown, referring to new Knicks coach Mike Brown. “Cam Payne taught me something last year. He was the backup last year and I kind of learned from him.

“When you step into that role, when you get into the game, you want to change it in some way. You want to change the pace of the game or get the ball moving a little bit more. You’re there and you have the first thing — for me I have the whole first quarter or whatever it’s seven or eight minutes — to watch and dissect what the other team is doing and what we’re doing as well on offense and defense. Just trying to come in and impact the game any way I can.”

Kulick was a second-round pick a year ago out of Marquette, but he played sparingly last season under then-coach Tom Thibodeau, averaging 7.2 minutes per game over 41 games.

Brodgon, a former Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man Award winner, was signed to a non-guaranteed deal over the summer to compete for a backup point guard, but the nine-year NBA veteran He suddenly called it a career in mid-October.

The 24-year-old Kulik got his first opportunity to manage the second unit.

“I was just taking it day by day. I wasn’t focusing too much on the outside noise about who was going to play,” Kulick said. “These are coach decisions at the end of the day.

“For me, it was just coming in the gym every day and working hard and showing what I can do. And hopefully that will lead to some time on the floor… I had a full training camp and spent a lot of the summer with the coaching staff and the preseason really understanding the offense.”

Brown believes the 6ft 2in Kulik brings “versatility and toughness” and has shown a “super talent in passing” the ball.

“He can make plays for himself and for others. He keeps us organized. He had a really good defensive game (Friday) most of the time,” Brown said. “In the first half, he was very good offensively.

“In the second half, he wasn’t as good, but he’s a young man, and he’s going to learn and grow any minute he gets, and that’s what I like about him, because you know he’s young, he’s smart, but most importantly, he’s tenacious, so he can take any kind of training or any adversity he’s given at any time and he’ll come back the right way.”

Kulik added that he and Payne talked “all the time” last season, and he even explained what they saw from Brunson on the bench during games.

“Cam and I were on the bench a lot last year. So you’re watching the game and obviously you’re watching Jalen. Learning from him is kind of watching,” Kulick said. “It’s not just words back and forth. I can always ask questions and ask what he sees.

“But when you’re sitting there and watching it live, Cam and I were sitting there, and he’s like, ‘You see this, and this and this.’ And that’s the perfect example of that… I have a great relationship with all the older guys both on and off the floor. It’s really important for me as a point guard coming off the bench to collaborate with all of these guys and know where they want the ball, how they want the ball, what plays they like.”