Amar’e Stoudemire’s knee injury may alter two lineups on opening night.
With the Knicks power forward out for the Nov. 1 showdown against the Nets at Barclays Center, Carmelo Anthony may move to power forward, but Nets coach Avery Johnson was noncommittal when asked whether he’d adjust his starting lineup to match a smaller, more perimeter-oriented opponent.
Johnson has used a starting five of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez for the bulk of the preseason, but the coach said that didn’t mean it would be his default lineup going forward, referencing his propensity to mix lineups even with the best of teams. In 2006-07, he used 12 different starters and had just three players start as many as 70 games while coaching the Mavericks to the best record in the NBA.
“I think everything is an open book for us,” Avery Johnson said. “I’ve had teams before, even the 67-win team, we had a few different starting lineups. I’m not saying we will or we won’t. I think my job is to try to make the best decisions to give us the best chance to win, and if that’s something that we need to do, we will.If we don’t need to do it, we won’t.”
Avery Johnson noted Stoudemire’s absence makes the Knicks a little quicker and more likely to spread the floor offensively, a situation in which he feels very comfortable sliding Wallace to power forward. A superior defender and athlete than Humphries, Wallace would match up with Anthony, likely giving extended minutes to guard C.J. Watson on the wing. In the Nets’ last preseason game, Watson played more than 32 minutes and Humphries played just over 13 minutes.
Without Humphries, who has led the team in rebounding the past two seasons, Lopez would need to take a greater responsibility on the glass. So, while the coach likes the small lineup, particularly late in games, he is concerned with rebounding in such situations because Lopez averaged just six rebounds per game in his last full season in 2010-11.
“It improved. We won’t [say] significant, but it improved,” Avery Johnson said of Lopez’s rebounding in training camp and the preseason. “His attempt percentage has improved — not where we want it to be, but it has improved. … [Rebounding’s] an issue for us. When you talk about all five guys rebounding, that puts a premium on it when we’re small at the 4.”
Lopez has returned to full health after foot and ankle injuries limited him to five games last season, and Johnson said he sees no better test to see where his big man is than going up against Knicks center Tyson Chandler.
Williams, who played on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team with Chandler this summer, said the best way for Lopez to deal with the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is to force him to the bench.
“Tyson’s one of the best on-ball defenders there is in this league,” Williams said. “Brook has to try and be aggressive early on and get him in foul trouble. That’s the biggest knock on Tyson, he’s susceptible to getting in foul trouble.”
* Watson (hip) and Keith Bogans (tailbone) sat out practice, while Jerry Stackhouse (knee) was limited. Avery Johnson said Watson is being held out for precautionary reasons and will be a game-time decision for the preseason finale tomorrow night at Nassau Coliseum against the Knicks if he does not participate in practice today. Stackhouse is not expected to play tomorrow.