Mike Woodson said he’s considering starting Pablo Prigioni in his return to the lineup Monday against the Nets in a two point-guard backcourt with Raymond Felton.
Prigioni is set to make his return from a broken toe in the Knicks’ showdown with the Nets in a matinee at the Garden. Prigioni has missed the past 16 games after breaking his toe on Dec. 16.
Woodson liked how the Prigioni-Felton starting tandem looked down the stretch last season, and using that set would give allow him to move Carmelo Anthony from small forward to power forward, where he played much of last season.
Andrea Bargnani, who has been fairly inconsistent, would go back to the bench. With Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin out with sprained ankles for possibly the rest of the eight-game homestand — which ends Feb. 1 — the Knicks could use Bargnani’s scoring off the bench.
The starting backcourt pairing of Felton and Iman Shumpert has struggled during the team’s current three-game losing streak. Felton and Shumpert combined for five points in the discouraging loss to the Clippers on Friday.
“I haven’t made that decision on which way to go,’’ Woodson said after Sunday’s practice in Tarrytown. “I’m going to sleep on it and make a decision [Monday]. I don’t know who’s going to start.
“We’ve had some success last year with playing [Pablo] and Raymond both and Melo back at the 4. I’m not opposed to going back small based on what other teams do. Unfortunately we’ve been playing teams with big 4s and Bargnani is our big 4.’’
Woodson noted the Nets have been employing smaller lineups lately, with Paul Pierce seeing action at the 4. The Nets are expected to go with an all-point-guard backcourt of Shaun Livingston and the now-healthy Deron Williams.
“They’re playing better, looking to play with more pace,’’ Woodson said.
Prigioni had stepped up his game, especially defensively, before getting hurt. He was the starting point guard when he got injured because Felton was out with hip and hamstring injuries.
“Based on what Pablo did for us last year, he’s capable of running a team,’’ Woodson said. “I like him because he’s up the floor putting heat on the ball to initiate our defense. That helps, too, having him back.’’
Metta World Peace is not ready to return from his platelet-rich-plasma therapy. In fact, Woodson said he still has another injection to go. Woodson said he thinks he will have had a total of three injections by the time the therapy is finished. Originally, World Peace had pointed to two weeks after Jan. 6’s first injection — which would have been Monday. World Peace never mentioned he would undergo more injections.
Once the injections are finished, Woodson said Peace will have to get back into condition before playing. He hasn’t played since Dec. 28 and has missed 14 of the last 15 games. Without Peace, Stoudemire, and Martin, Jeremy Tyler has stepped into the lineup and played well.