NBA

Knicks like Melo-Bargnani forward combo

Granted, just one week into training camp, the Knicks haven’t seen it a heckuva lot, but the more they see it, the more they like it.

What is “it?” Their big lineup, with 6-foot-8 Carmelo Anthony and 7-foot Andrea Bargnani as bookend forwards for center Tyson Chandler. Anthony started 56 of 67 games at power forward last season and Sunday after practice, he certainly sounded as if he would grab the small-forward job in a heartbeat.

“That’s what got me here,” Anthony said of playing the three.

But honestly, it doesn’t matter to him: “Just put me out there, put us out there on the basketball court, whoever’s the lineup we’ll adjust to each other.”

Bargnani’s perimeter game can help the Knicks offset the absence of their best statistical 3-point shooters, Steve Novak and Chris Copeland, from their record-setting 2012-13 season. Bargnani raved about the short time he has spent with Anthony. With Chandler, he’d be a second 7-footer, but more importantly, Bargnani would be the legitimate supplemental scorer to Anthony the Knicks want.

“He has a great game vision. He’s not selfish at all. He really sees the plays, how the plays evolve, and he’s always looking for the open man,” Bargnani said of Anthony, praising the quick chemistry that has developed between the two. “For sure, it’s a daily process, we never played together, and every day the feeling grows.”

Anthony, the reigning NBA scoring champ, said the feeling is mutual.

“He can shoot,” Anthony said. “He can flat out shoot the basketball.

“Me and — I don’t even know what to call him — I’ll call him, ‘B’. Me and ‘B’ had a great week, just playing together, spacing it out on the court, me trying to learn from him, him trying to learn from me, trying to see what spots he likes,” Anthony said. “He’s actually a smart player, he can play off people. The way we play, we space the court, so a lot of time all the attention is on me, he can just space out.”

So Anthony foresees a lot of time together on the floor with “B,” his new BFF.

“For the most part, I’m pretty sure we will. For me, it’s just trying to figure him out in practice. And we’re going to take it one day at a time,” Anthony said of the trade-acquired Bargnani.

Coach Mike Woodson, who is more apt to reveal his ATM passwords than his lineups, stayed true to form, saying, “I don’t know who’s going to start yet.”

But Woodson did say he likes the Anthony-Bargnani formation.

“It’s looking good,” Woodson said. “In the scrimmage, we worked that combination. It wasn’t bad. It’s got to be done in the game, in real-game situations, and see how it looks. If it’s good, we can feed off of that.”

The big alignment at forward could affect one of Woodson’s favorite devices, the two point-guard alignment, something he employed frequently last season. This season?

“Don’t know because we have such a logjam at two and three,” the coach said, explaining with Anthony and Metta World Peace getting the lion’s share of minutes at three, the two guards — Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and even rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. — who might be employed as small forwards will be used as (gasp!) two guards.

“It should be competitive where they’re competing for that spot. I know I can always go back to Pablo [Prigioni] and Raymond Felton,” Woodson said of the point combo that started 16 times last season. “But at this point I’m going to try a big guard and see how it plays out.”