NBA

NBA back at Knicks’ ‘new’ home tonight

There have been 20 men’s and women’s college basketball games played on the new Madison Square Garden floor this winter. A total of 36 college teams have competed under the famed pinwheeled ceiling. They include men’s powers Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas and the local university St. John’s.

But the real basketball show graces the transformed Garden stage tonight — a belated production that just may carry into late June.

The Knicks finally get to squeak their sneakers on the court at the new Garden tonight. Before an expected sellout crowd, the Knicks host the Nets in their first — and last — home preseason game as the NBA returns to Broadway after an 8-month hiatus caused by a lockout that ended in late November.

It is only appropriate, says coach Mike D’Antoni. New Garden. New team. New championship dream.

“It’s just like a new beginning,’’ D’Antoni said. “It’s a team that’s newly put together and will be together for a while.’’

Owner James Dolan poured $850 million into revamping the arena, which tonight will showcase the Knicks, who debut the “Broadway Bigs’’ — the star-powered frontcourt of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and new 7-foot-1 center Tyson Chandler.

It is their only Garden dress rehearsal before Sunday’s Christmas spectacle when the Knicks host the Celtics at noon to open the NBA’s 66-game season. Their two-game preseason schedule began Saturday with a sloppy 92-83 victory over the Nets in Newark.

Chandler warned the club must treat tonight like it counts.

“It’s going to be exciting, first time in Madison Square Garden playing as a Knick,’’ Chandler said. “But more important, we have to start the season off right. The way this preseason is, training camp is, we only have two preseason games. It’s very important we have a good showing [tonight]. We can’t afford to treat it like another preseason game. We haven’t been together that long. We have a new team. We want to keep the same focus as we have during the season.’’

The Garden’s famous center-court Willis Reed tunnel from which the players emerge is gone, replaced by prime midcourt seats that make the building feel more intimate. So the Knicks will still hear the heartfelt roars tonight when they race onto the court from a new direction — in the corner. The city is revved up for the Knicks, especially after D’Antoni’s prediction they will compete for the championship this season.

“It’s always fun to play at the Garden, and now it’s renovated,’’ D’Antoni said. “The players will be psyched up. We have high expectations this year. It should be a fun season.’’

On the original schedule, the Knicks would have hosted the Jazz tonight in their 26th regular-season game. The last time the Knicks were at the Garden, in late April, they had no true center and were bludgeoned by the Celtics to finish a four-game sweep.

“We got the thing that was screaming that we needed,’’ D’Antoni said of a defensive big man.

Against Boston, the Knicks also were decimated by injuries to Chauncey Billups (knee) and Amar’e Stoudemire (back). Billups was an amnesty cut this offseason to make salary-cap room for Chandler. Stoudemire returned in better shape and taller, having grown a half-inch to his new listed height of 6-foot-11, crediting the growth to back exercises.

Chandler will not impress on the offensive end, and he still is learning D’Antoni’s system. But the fans, whom Anthony says are closer to the court than in the old configuration, will notice the Knicks’ new commitment to defense.

“It’s all great and everything looks good on paper, but the game is not played on paper,’’ Chandler said. “It’s time to buckle down and get ready for the season.’’