The four-game western swing proved the Knicks may be better with Mike Miller as head coach and without Dennis Smith Jr. as point guard.

As the Knicks return to the Garden to face the Hawks on Tuesday, Smith, the cornerstone piece to the Kristaps Porzingis blockbuster, is currently out of the rotation despite Miller’s passive-aggressive approach of refusing to acknowledge this development after their 2-2 trip.

Smith was last seen struggling in the trip’s disastrous opener in Portland. As he missed the final three games of the journey, the Knicks ran off their season’s first two-game winning streak and then scared the daylights out of the Nuggets on Sunday.

They rallied from a 20-point hole to take a five-point fourth-quarter lead before losing to the Western Conference power, 111-105.

A migraine prevented Smith from playing in the win over the Warriors that busted the 10-game losing streak. That created a Miller headache. The new interim coach was forced to give Smith his first two “did not play-coach’s decisions” in Sacramento and Denver.

When asked if he’ll soon get his turn, Smith said ominously late Sunday, “I don’t know. I’m not really a wait-around-type guy, you know what I’m saying. I just put in extra work in. It is what it is.”

Backup point guard Elfrid Payton became a boon stock out West, and his play has allowed the Miller Era to gain traction. Fizdale never had that luxury, as Payton missed 17 straight games, got him back rusty for the Denver blowout earlier this month, then was canned.

Meanwhile, starting point guard Frank Ntilikina, despite a recent slide, played a terrific game in Denver with 13 points, four assists, four steals, five rebounds and no turnovers.

That left Smith, Dallas’ 2017 lottery pick, on the outside looking in again. Smith is not in the same class of defender as Ntilikina or Payton. More troubling is Smith’s jump shot looks broken, as he’s shooting 32 percent from the field. Assistant coach Keith Smart worked on Smith’s shot relentlessly over the summer, but was axed with Fizdale 11 days ago.

“I’m trying to be supportive,’’ Smith said. “They keep playing well. Just be a good teammate for my guys. That’s all I can do. Control what I can control. I can’t control if I don’t play or not. I can control being a good teammate.”

Miller is trying to limit what could turn into his first controversy. Across the past few days, Miller kept indicating Smith was still in the plans.

Before Sunday’s game in Denver, Miller said, “He’s healthy, well and everybody’s available. The strategy is whatever we need. Their point guards are explosive. We go in knowing we have confidence in three guys. We see that as an advantage.’’

With the Knicks showing decided improvement minus Smith, it will be difficult for Miller to mess with the Ntilikina-Payton tandem. Politically, it’s also difficult not to develop Smith.

For now, Payton is playing too well and Miller likes the starting lineup as is with Ntilikina.

“He’s getting into the paint, making plays for himself and others,’’ Randle said of Payton. “He’s pushing the pace. He’s just being him doing what he does.”

Since Miller took over, Payton is averaging 10.2 points 6.2 assists and four rebounds in 22 minutes and shooting 45.1 percent in five games. Miller loves how Payton has “made teammates better.”

“He gets into the lane, gets guys shots, is very active defensively, he’s getting downhill a lot and he gets to the rim,’’ Marcus Morris said. “He puts pressure on the rim and he puts pressure on the guards and the bigs to pull over, which leaves lob threats and open corner 3s.”

Miller, who is 2-3 as interim coach, said the Knicks are now “playing to an identity’’ and added he wants to stick with what is working.

Undeniably, the Knicks are functioning better without Smith. And no one will ever know what Fizdale would have done when Payton came back.