Fields out of starting lineup?

Mike D'Antoni may be ready to make a move that might wind up being a game or two too late. Rookie Landry Fields struggled yet again, scoring only two points in 21:54 in Friday night's 113-96 Game 3 loss to the Celtics, and D'Antoni said after the game that he will strongly consider pulling Fields from the starting lineup.

"It's a good question and we'll ponder that question,'' D'Antoni said. "I'm not going to lose him. We're not going to take him out of the rotation. He's too important as we go forward. He played too good for too long, but that's a good question.''

Fields started 81 of 82 games in the regular season, the first Knicks rookie to start that many since Bill Cartwright started all 82 in 1979-80, and in the first half of the season, the second-round pick was considered the steal of the 2010 draft. The 6-7 guard from Stanford was praised for his heady play and his ability to get rebounds and run the floor, but his production dropped dramatically after the trade for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups as his role changed.

Fields was 1-for-5 from the field in Game 3 and is 3-for-12 in the series, with five total rebounds.

The most likely candidate to take his place in the starting lineup is Bill Walker, who bounced back from an 0-for-11 Game 2 outing with nine points off the bench and 4-for-9 shooting.

No Barkley talk

Before Tuesday's Game 2, TNT's Charles Barkley criticized D'Antoni and suggested the Knicks "are going to have a new coach next year.'' On Thursday, he said he was wrong to have said that. And on Friday afternoon, D'Antoni brushed off questions about it. "It's fine,'' he said. "It's a distraction in a sense that I've got so many things on my plate right now, trying to get us right, but I haven't really thought about it that much.'' When asked a follow-up question, he replied, "This is probably not the place to go into it.''