NBA

Knicks scramble to fill hole Amar’e cut in lineup

Amar’e Stoudemire’s absence with a lacerated left hand means coach Mike Woodson will have a new Knicks starting lineup for tomorrow’s Game 3 against the Heat, and odds are it will feature new starters at two positions.

It figures that, as the Knicks did when Stoudemire missed 13 games late in the season with a bulging disk, Carmelo Anthony will shift from small forward to power forward. But that lineup used Landry Fields as the starting small forward and Iman Shumpert — now out with a torn ACL suffered in Game 1 — as the starting two-guard.

Assuming Anthony does play power forward, there are a few options. The Knicks could move Fields, who started Game 2 at shooting guard, to small forward and promote sixth man J.R. Smith to starting two-guard.

But if Smith starts, the Knicks’ bench will be severely compromised, and their starting five will be incredibly small.

The second option is to keep Fields at two-guard and start sharpshooter Steve Novak at small forward. That would put the Knicks’ best long-range gunner on the floor for more minutes and possibly prevent the Heat from double-teaming Anthony too much.

The final option would be prioritizing defense, using Jared Jeffries at power forward and keeping Anthony at the three. The 6-foot-11 Jeffries might be able to help stymie the Heat attack. After holding teams to just 91.5 points under Woodson in the regular season, the Heat shredded the Knicks for 100 points in Game 1 and 104 in Game 2.

No matter the precise configuration of the new starting lineup, rookie power forward Josh Harrellson is likely to assume some of the leftover minutes.

“You all know what a big piece of the team [Stoudemire] is for us, and it’s really just a piece of bad luck,” Novak said. “But if he can’t play, we’ve just got to find a way to move forward and have guys step up.”

When Stoudemire was out with the bulging disk, Anthony was superb, averaging 28.1 points. But in two playoff games, he has been inconsistent. Other than in the first half of Game 2, when he was brilliant with 21 points, Anthony has shot a combined 6-for-23. He has missed all five 3-point attempts.

Novak also has been limited against Miami. He has taken just five shots, all from long distance, hitting three of them. Smith averaged 15 points in the two games on combined 13-for-28 shooting.

mark.hale@nypost.com