Toney Douglas will start at point guard and Landry Fields will start at shooting guard for the Knicks in tonight’s preseason finale against the Nets at Madison Square Garden. But Mike D’Antoni left open the possibility the starting lineup could change for Sunday’s season opener and left the door wide open that things could be altered after the season’s first few weeks.
Yes, use a pencil on the Douglas-Fields starting pairing. Neither looked good in the preseason opener Saturday against the Nets, and the backup pairing of impressive rookie combo guard Iman Shumpert and newly signed point guard Mike Bibby is looking sweet in scrimmages.
“We’re starting this group [tonight], we’ll make the assessment on that after the game and two practices and we’ll see Sunday,’’ D’Antoni said. “I would say the group we started two games would probably start Sunday. I just want to leave it open a little bit if we have a change of heart or I think something looks better. But I think we will stay the same, give it a little bit of a chance. After two, three weeks, we might change something.’’
Shumpert, who had 16 points in the preseason opener, continues to light up the Westchester gym with dynamic play and a smooth stroke from 3-point land. Bibby has been solid. Meanwhile, Douglas is not deemed a true playmaker by the Knicks’ coaching staff, and Fields still can’t hit the broad side of the barn in scrimmages, picking up where he left off in the Boston playoff series.
* Newly signed point guard Baron Davis could return in as soon as a month. Davis spent yesterday rehabbing his herniated discs in the trainer’s room, and did not appear on the court to watch practice. Davis partly chose the Knicks because of their training staff that he hopes could nurse him to health ahead of schedule.
“The Knicks have a reputation as having one of the best team medical staffs in the league,’’ Davis’ agent Todd Ramasar told The Post yesterday.
* Celtics star Paul Pierce (bruised heel) will sit out Boston’s preseason finale tonight and may miss Sunday’s season opener at MSG. … C-PF Jared Jeffries missed practice with a sore calf and is expected to miss tonight’s game. … TNT analyst Magic Johnson said on a conference call yesterday he expects the Knicks to struggle early then contend with the Bulls and Heat for the East title.