CHICAGO — After coming off the bench in the season opener, Andrea Bargnani was back in the starting lineup in the Knicks’ 82-81 loss to the Bulls Thursday night at United Center, away from the impatient Garden crowd, which booed him after he missed his first two shots.
Bargnani had a brutal first half Thursday, going scoreless and picking up three offensive fouls in the second quarter. But he settled down to finish 4 of 7 for nine points in 24:38. He did not play the final 9:43.
It was better than his Knicks debut at the Garden when he got booed.
Bargnani, who missed all four of his shots in the first half in the opener, said the fans have the right to boo. Bargnani was also booed in Toronto last season — leading to his exit.
“Absolutely,’’ Bargnani said. “I was missing shots. They were open shots. I got to keep taking them. I missed open shots. All I can do is keep taking them and keep working hard.’’
Bargnani had started all preseason and most of his career. Suddenly, coach Mike Woodson decided on yanking him from the starting lineup in favor of the successful two point-guard backcourt of last season — Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni in a small lineup — for the opener.
Thursday night, the two point-guard alignment was ditched.
“I don’t think rhythm is the reason if I’m starting or being off the bench,’’ Bargnani said. “I was very happy to be back on the court after all the months when I sat out with [an] injury [last year],’’
Bargnani said. “I was happy to play after all this time.’’
Bargnani said he wasn’t nervous in his first regular-season game as a Knick.
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Amar’e Stoudemire made his season debut and struggled in the first half. He finished with five points on 2 of 3 shooting in 10:40. He’s on a 10-minute nightly limit.
Stoudemire checked in with 4:06 left in first quarter and the Knicks, down three, stumbled.
He bounced the ball off of his foot and out of bounds on his first foray, then committed an offensive foul setting a pick. Stoudemire was worse defending burly Carlos Boozer, who scored three times over Stoudemire. Finally Taj Gibson skied at the buzzer for a putback and the Knicks trailed by 10 after one.
Stoudemire was better in the second half, scoring on two post moves.
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Point guard Raymond Felton (5-for-14, 13 points) said his strained left hamstring, which he first injured in preseason, could linger for more than a month.
“Hopefully it goes away,’’ Felton said before the contest with his left leg wrapped. “It could last two, three days but it could last up to six weeks. Hopefully one day I wake up and it’s gone. Right now it’s a nagging thing I have to deal with.’’