Boone: How much longer will Billups be a Knick?

 Donnie Walsh isn’t the only member of the Knicks who has a deadline looming with his contract.

The Knicks have five days after the NBA Finals conclude to waive Chauncey Billups — who has a team option for next season — with only $3.7 million of his $14.2 million guaranteed if he is waived during that period. Walsh wouldn’t make any public commitments, but he did speak highly of the 34-year-old point guard, who suffered a strained tendon in his left knee while driving to the basket late in Game 1 against the Celtics.

“I would say we need him out there; he helps organize the floor,” team president Walsh said yesterday. “When he’s not out there, we’re not as organized.”

There are concerns about Billups’ age — he’ll be 35 when next season starts — and the fact that he has endured a rash of injuries in the short time he’s been a Knick since his acquisition Feb. 22.

“Yeah, but they’re not major injuries,” Walsh said. “They’re not major injuries, but they just come at the wrong time. It isn’t like I’m worried about his overall health in any area . . . I don’t make lasting judgments on that.”

The Knicks would get immediate savings by waiving Billups but also would have to find another point guard while still searching for their greatest need: a center. They are more likely to keep Billups for at least next season and possibly use his expiring contract at next season’s trade deadline.

Walsh is quite aware there is a decision to be made on Billups. “And I’ll make it,” he said, “when the time comes.”

No Fields day

Mike D’Antoni jokingly gave Landry Fields a little bit of homework, explaining that he’d benefit from taking in an old school flick to help cure the basketball ills he’s experiencing in his first career playoff series.

“I told him to watch a Tarzan movie, where the guy gets into quicksand,” D’Antoni said after yesterday’s practice in Greenburgh, N.Y. “Don’t flail. Don’t battle. Just lay there. And he’s trying to do too much. He doesn’t even see swings and stuff. And that just comes from wanting to do too much. Just calm down, take your shots, don’t be overaggressive.”

Fields, the starting shooting guard, has struggled through the first three games of the Knicks’ Eastern Conference first-round series against the Celtics. The rookie has been hesitant and appears unsure of himself.

Fields has scored only six points in 56 minutes, shooting 3-for-12 from the field. He’s 0-for-3 from three-point range, has missed all four free throws and has turned the ball over four times. He hasn’t been much better on the defensive side, constantly getting torched by Ray Allen, who’s hit 15 of 20 three-pointers — including eight on Friday, a single-game playoff record for a Knicks opponent.

Fields said he hasn’t been playing within himself, something he has to do more of in Game 4.

“I’ve just got to go out there and just play smart,” he said. “I think I’ve been trying to do a little too much. Still remain aggressive, but then also see the floor . . . tunnel vision.

“I’ve just got to remain confident. Like I’ve said, the biggest thing is to let the game come to me.”

And stop listening to the people chirping in his ear.

“I’m sure everybody and their mother said, ‘Be aggressive . . . you’ve got to do this and that,’ ’’ D’Antoni said. “And it’s too much for him. Hopefully, he’ll come out on Sunday, but he’s going to be good. He’s fine.

“He needs to calm down and take his shots — concentrate on defense and rebounding. That was the two things. If he’s open, shoot it. He needs just to trim back his game a little bit.”

Douglas not facilitating

Toney Douglas has been thrust into the starting lineup in Billups’ absence, but he hasn’t been very effective as a floor general, failing to get his teammates involved. As if the Knicks don’t have enough injury concerns, D’Antoni revealed Douglas still is battling a shoulder injury that has nagged him since the preseason.

But that doesn’t mean he totally gets a free pass for his inconsistent play.

“Toney’s banged up a little bit, but he has to — he has to run the team a little bit more,” D’Antoni said. “He has to create for other guys. And he’s been deferring a little bit. This is a good learning experience for him. But I thought overall, he’s shooting the ball pretty well, he’s playing hard as usual, so it would be nice if he could create more. We try to show him on tape where people were open, and try to get them the ball.”