Time on Celtics’ side between series

The Celtics [team stats] took the first of two days off. They’ll begin practice tomorrow and watch the Miami Heat play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers [team stats] tomorrow night.

Their viewing pleasure may even be extended, should the Sixers somehow win and force a Game 6 on Friday night in Philadelphia.

Game 7 in Miami on Sunday? That’s generally assumed to be the day and place where Game 1 of the Eastern Conference second-round series begins between the Celtics and Heat, but right now it seems a month removed.

The Celtics get to prepare, rest, go out to dinner, play with the kids and prepare some more.

Those horrid back-to-back swings of the regular season aren’t coming back.

The Celtics aren’t kidding when they say that this is their time of year. With at least a week between their Game 4 win Sunday against the Knicks and their next game, they can prepare as if it’s training camp all over again, minus the bus ride to Salve Regina.

“It’s going to get us more healthy, and it will give the Big Four a chance to get their rest,” Jeff Green said as he hurried out of the locker room Sunday in New York to meet some friends and family. “It just gives us an opportunity to get our chemistry going.”

That is the bit of unfinished business that has to be tended to during the next six days.

The bench finally played well in Game 4, and especially where the performances of Green (five points, seven rebounds) and Glen Davis (14 points, five rebounds, 6-for-8 shooting) were concerned. Overall, the bench scored 25 points, after averaging 12.3 points in the first three games.

Delonte West played better in Game 4, but he still hasn’t produced one of his classic energy games. Nenad Krstic no longer makes appearances after halftime.

If this is what constitutes depth for the Celtics, then they have a lot to work on.

And then there’s the ongoing mystery of Shaquille O’Neal to worry about. His possible return for the second round will require a reconfiguring as well.

“There’s a lot of work ahead of us — a lot of work,” said Jermaine O’Neal, whose own progress in the starting lineup has helped revive the C’s defensive soul. “We’re going to take the next day and a half off, some guys are coming in on Tuesday, but we’re not even halfway there yet. We have much bigger plans than just getting into the second round.”

Nor do they want to expire among the palm trees on South Beach. The 100-77 pounding they suffered April 10 in Miami aside, the Celtics still consider the Heat a good matchup, one they can improve on with the extra time for preparation.

The rest will help tremendously, because coach Doc Rivers won’t have to worry as much about extending minutes for Paul Pierce [stats], Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.

“We make story lines either way,” Allen said. “You talk about going from one series to the next series without any rest. Or you can have so much time off. For us the rest is good.”

Dating back to 2008, when the Celtics [team stats] didn’t even win a playoff road game until the conference finals on their way to the NBA title, they never have had this kind of gap between rounds. It’s uncharted territory.

“I think we talk ourselves into either way something is going to be good for us,” Allen said of the rest vs. no rest debate. “We’ll talk ourselves into it, whether we have no rest or there’s plenty of it. It’s all mental. The guys that we’re bringing along, the seventh and eighth guys on the team — that’s where it helps us a lot.”

It sounds good in theory, anyway.

“With our team you never know,” Rivers said. “Honestly I think it’s great, but who knows? We know that we’ve played well when we’ve had rest.”

NBA roundup: Celtics bounce Knicks in 4; Sixers stay alive

NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics made the New York Knicks' return to the postseason a brief one.

Now the Celtics have a long break before that expected trip to Miami.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 assists, and the Celtics swept their way into the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding on for a 101-89 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.

Ray Allen and reserve Glen Davis each added 14 points for the Celtics, the first team into the second round after sweeping a series.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points with nine rebounds and ex-Piston Chauncey Billups (sprained knee) did not play.

New Orleans 93, L.A. Lakers 88: Chris Paul scored 27 points with 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the host Hornets evened their first-round playoff series at 2-2. Paul scored 14 of New Orleans' 24 points in the fourth quarter. The All-Star guard then capped his triple-double performance by running down the clock and setting up Jarrett Jack's short jumper, which made it 90-86 with 9.3 seconds left. Kobe Bryant scored 17 for the Lakers but did not score in the first half and finished 5 of 18 shooting.

Philadelphia 86, Miami 82: Lou Williams hit a three-pointer with 8.1 seconds left to help the host 76ers avoid a sweep. Miami was 95 seconds away from winning Game 4, holding an 82-76 lead. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat didn't score again. Jrue Holiday made a three with 46.6 seconds left that sliced the deficit to one. Williams followed with a three from the top of the arc for an 84-82 lead.

Atlanta 88, Orlando 85: Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson made four big free throws in the final 20 seconds for the host Hawks. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 29 points and 17 rebounds.

Rose's woes: Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose had a walking boot on his left foot Sunday and was scheduled for an MRI on his sprained ankle. Rose sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter Saturday; the Bulls hope to have him available for Tuesday's Game 5.

Garden crowd quieted by Celts

Doc Rivers didn't care much about whether Amar'e Stoudemire would play or not Friday night. The Celtics coach was more concerned about his team getting right.

They did, and in resounding fashion as the Celtics hushed a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd hungry for the Knicks' first home playoff game in seven years.

The Celtics showed the overall complete game that made them NBA finalists twice in the last three years, and now has the Knicks staring at elimination after a 113-96 loss Friday night.

If the Celtics play the same way Sunday in Game 4 of the best-of-seven first-round series, they could sweep the Knicks, giving Stoudemire plenty of time to rest his injured back.

The Knicks' All-Star big man clearly wasn't himself as he finished with seven points, but the Celtics looked like their old selves.

Paul Pierce scored 38 points on 14for19 shooting, including 6-of-8 from three-point land. Ray Allen hit eight threes and finished with 32 points, and Rajon Rondo had an eye-popping 15-point, 20-assist, 11-rebound triple-double.

"It was a conscious effort to run our offense," Rivers said. "Paul and Ray were the focus. I thought Rondo had one of those great catcher games, one of those [Jason] Varitek games. He called a terrific game. That's a great sign for us, because when he does that it allows us to run pretty much what we want to run."

In the first two games in Boston, the Celtics weren't that impressive, aside from their end-of-game execution. But with Rondo leading them in Game 3, the Celtics went through stretches where they did whatever they wanted.

It started in the first quarter as they came out primed to run the Knicks off their own court. Eight minutes in, Boston led 22-5. The cushion came from a combination of Knicks sloppiness and Celtics effectiveness.

The Knicks roared back to draw within five on five different occasions in the second quarter. But the Celtics took control in the third.

They outscored the Knicks 34-19, registering the highest-scoring quarter either team had in this series. The Celtics shot 14for23 in the period and built a 23-point lead.

"We put together four quarters," Rondo said. "In the second half we played our game and we opened the game up."

It allowed Rivers, who said before the game he was "worried about getting our rhythm," to exhale. The Celtics found it with Rondo as the catalyst.

"He got himself into a rhythm," Rivers said.

"He got us into a rhythm and allowed us to make calls. When he gets into a rhythm it allows all of us, even the coaches, to get into a rhythm."

BRIEFS: Rivers said he hopes Shaquille O'Neal (strained right calf) will play at some point in this series. "He's on the road, which means he's getting better and he's closer," Rivers said. "I don't know if he'll play Sunday or not. We'll probably find out a little bit more [today]."

The Celtics may not need him.

Bulls 103, Knicks 90

Derrick Rose scored 26 points and Luol Deng added 23 and 10 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls used a big second half to defeat the host New York Knicks, 103-90, on Tuesday.

Carlos Boozer chipped in 14 points and a season-high 22 boards and Joakim Noah scored 13 points for the Bulls (61-20), who have already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference and still have a shot at the best record in the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who are locked into the No. 6 spot in the East and will open the playoffs this weekend at the Boston Celtics.

New York held a 55-52 edge at the half but watched that lead quickly disappear when Chicago ripped off a 26-2 run over the first seven minutes of the third quarter. The Knicks recovered by the end of the period, cutting it to 84-73 heading into the final period.

They got as close as 91-84 early in the fourth quarter before Rose drained a 3-pointer to help the Bulls pull away again.

Bill Walker added 18 points for New York, which played without All-Star forward Amar'e Stoudemire for the fourth straight game. Stoudemire is expected to be ready for the playoffs.

Knicks try to solve puzzle

Exactly one month ago, Carmelo Anthony emerged from a tunnel at Madison Square Garden for his first game as a Knick waving to a raucous crowd that clearly believed happy days were here again. Not nine losses in his first 16 games, six of them in seven games to teams with losing records.

Not fourth-quarter meltdowns like the nine-point lead the Knicks blew in the final 7:26 Monday against Boston or the 11-point lead with 11 1/2 minutes left they squandered Friday in Detroit — to name just two.

Thus, happy days have become panicked days, the great expectations of ’Melo’s arrival already given way to some fear that the Knicks erred in getting him — even loathing from some fans that he might become Stephon Marbury II.

And now, if the Knicks don’t beat Dwight Howard and the Magic tonight at the Garden, their record falls below .500 for the first time since Nov. 27 (at 8-9).

Yet, in-house, the Knicks try to keep the atmosphere as mellow as possible with 12 regular-season games left to right the ship before their presumed trip to the playoffs (magic number: seven).

"I expected that we wouldn’t be collectively together after that trade," team president Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. "I also looked at the schedule in the month of March and saw if we’re trying to find ourselves, it [was] going to be difficult."

March features 18 games (including Monday’s rematch against the Magic, the make-up of the Nov. 2 asbestos-scare postponement), including six back-to-back sets — more than half the 11 back-to-backs the Lakers play all season.

Thus with what D’Antoni calls "no practice time," Anthony said, "Right now, we’re just figuring it out on the go.

"As long as we figure it out by the time the playoffs come, I’m not really too concerned about what’s going on right now and how it’s going on," ’Melo said.

Easy to say, hard to watch — especially when the Knicks’ recent problems have occurred on the side of the ball D’Antoni said didn’t worry him a month ago.

Offensively, despite two All-Star "closers" in Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks, particularly late in games, look at times as if they’re running around aimlessly.

Or standing.

"We’re still trying to get a grip on it," Stoudemire said.

"Remember, we started the year off this season with a bunch of new guys. We started off 3-8. Then, once we figured out the right floor spacing and the ball movement, how to space the floor and run the court, we went on a tear."

A 13-1, season-turning tear.

"Offensively, it takes time to get everything clicking," Anthony said. "I’m not too concerned about that. Offense is the easy part."

Not lately, a month after he arrived in the city where he wanted to play.

Still, D’Antoni said one month isn’t what the trade was all about.

"We did the trade for the future of the franchise," he said. "We think it’s going to work out, it’s going to be great. …

"It’s just a matter of getting there sooner than later."

Carmelo and Amar’e take Manhattan

Last month, a blockbuster trade landed Denver Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony with the New York Knicks, sparking a media frenzy and hopes for the team’s first NBA championship since 1973. The renewed optimism for Gotham hoops comes as Melo joins former Phoenix Suns sensation Amar’e Stoudemire, who this season inked a five-year deal worth nearly $100 million in the Knicks’ aggressive push for a title — and relevancy.

“The Knicks are a classic franchise, so it’s nice to see them having a moment,” says GQ senior editor Will Welch.

Off the hardwood, both athletes are known as much for their style swagger as they are for their stutter step.

Stoudemire — who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Yankees-Tampa Bay game in September — has cemented his sartorial standing by wrangling Anna Wintour to Madison Square Garden for a Knicks game.

Meanwhile, Anthony has been a tabloid fixture since Stoudemire threw a star-studded dinner at the West Village’s Spotted Pig to welcome his newest teammate and longtime friend.

The dapper dandies certainly know how to make a Big Apple entrance — pocket square and all. “Amar’e feels like an old soul, in a way,” says Welch.

“He’s got the whole prep thing going on. You see Amar’e in bow ties, chunky-framed glasses and cardigans.”

In 2009, the Brooklyn-born, Baltimore-raised Anthony began working with celebrity stylist Khalilah Williams-Webb, who refined his aesthetic.

Much to her delight, he shaved his trademark braids without nagging.

“My first question for him was, ‘Are you going to shave your braids?’ And he said no. [But] I went to Denver one day, and they were gone. I was so excited,” says Williams-Webb, who recently picked up varsity letterman jackets and crew-neck sweatshirts for the newly minted Knick.

She put him in custom suits with pops of color and tossed the baggy jackets out with his untucked, oversize shirts.

Stoudemire and Anthony, who stand at 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-8, respectively, both have pulled off style coups for men of their height.

The stars — who entered the NBA while in their teens — are devotees of LA-based tailor Waraire Boswell. At 6-foot-7, Boswell is an expert at fitting a taller, more athletic frame.

“Despite all of the money at their disposal, they can’t just walk into Barneys and Bergdorf and buy off the rack,” says Welch. “They have to have their stuff made for them.”

Knicks fans, however, love them best in blue and orange mesh.

Stoudemire, who only started playing organized ball at 14, was drafted into the NBA right out of high school, while Anthony played a year at Syracuse, won a national championship and entered the pros with just one year of college under his belt.

“Both of them have come really close to an NBA championship, but fell short,” says Robert Tuchman, author of “The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live.”

“Being in New York should change that.”

Thus far, the team is trying to jell, and has been streaky at best.

But the new additions have already captured the hearts of basketball and fashion fans alike.

Here’s how they stack up against each other in the personal arena . . .

Not-so-humble abodes

* Stoudemire: The swinging bachelor is in the penthouse of 99 Jane St. that opened in November after the previous tenant, Goldman Sachs banker Richard Kimball Jr., angered neighbors with his hard-partying ways. The $37,500-a-month pad has 4,500 square feet inside and another 4,500 square feet of outdoor space to entertain hopeful gal pals.

* Anthony: The recent arrival hasn’t yet committed to an apartment, but The Post has reported that he’s mulling two locations in SoHo, including the same Mercer Street building where Jon Bon Jovi lives (also the place where Mark Madoff committed suicide in December). He’s reportedly considering the upscale Soho Mews on West Broadway as well.

Marital status

* Stoudemire: “Amar’e is a lot more private with his private life,” says sports author Robert Tuchman. The dapper dandy was linked to Kanye’s ex, Amber Rose, in December, but the pair denied a romantic relationship.

* Anthony: Carmelo Anthony wed MTV personality and longtime girlfriend La La Vazquez at a star-studded ceremony at Cirpriani 42nd Street in July. Amar’e, Kim Kardashian, LeBron James and Spike Lee watched as Melo wed Vazquez, 31, in a custom navy Waraire Boswell tuxedo.

Mass appeal

Stoudemire: The Florida native has made no secret of his design aspirations, and plans to collaborate with Rachel Roy on men’s and women’s collections, to be rolled out in the fall. The pair was spotted discussing details at The Lion in December.

Anthony: While his teammate rubs shoulders with the fashion pack, Melo’s hanging with the VH1 film crew chronicling his and wife La La’s move from Denver to the Big Apple, tentatively called “La La’s Full Court Life.” It’s a follow-up to the network’s “La La’s Full Court Wedding.”

Spectacles

* Stoudemire: He rocks rec specs while posting up on opponents, but in his off-time, Stoudemire gets his cache of nerd-chic glasses from SoHo’s Silver Lining. From chunky, square Arthur Miller styles to the rounded Urkel variety, his frames are an integral part of Stoudemire’s playful, preppy aesthetic.

* Anthony: “He has to have his shades,” says celebrity stylist Khalilah Williams-Webb, who also plucks aviator sunglasses from Silver Lining’s vintage collection. “He loves Silver Lining because they have frames that he knows no one else will have,” she adds.

Vogue love

* Stoudemire: Editrix Anna Wintour is a famous fan of athletes such as Roger Federer and LeBron James; Stoudemire can now join the pantheon. Stoudemire — whom Wintour personally invited to last fall’s Fashion Night Out — has sat front-row with her at a Tommy Hilfiger show and appears in April’s issue, playing a hilarious game of one-on-one with the magazine’s resident dandy, Hamish Bowles.

* Anthony: He’s yet to land a coveted editorial spread, but his stylist hopes New York helps cultivate his fashion profile. “It’s the fashion capital. There are so many things to see here, and the streets are an inspiration,” says Williams-Webb. “I think it will be easier to convince him to try new things.

Style & sensibility

* Stoudemire: The slim power forward, who works with Rachel Johnson, LeBron James’ stylist, favors custom suits by Gucci and Waraire Boswell. “He’s really up on what’s going on right now,” says Welch. “He looks great in a tux, which is really hard when you’re 6-foot-10. He takes risks and pulls them off.” Whether he’s wearing a casual leather jacket and jeans or a bow tie and charcoal pinstripe suit, the fashion phenom hardly makes a style mistep, Welch says. “Amar’e tends to nail it,” he says.

* Anthony: When Melo shed his braids and baggy togs, adopting a cleaner silhouette, he began his ascent into the league’s style elite. “He’s coming into his own and figuring out who he is off the court,” says Welch. “He’s isn’t as consistent as Amar’e. He looks best when he keeps it simple.” He committed some flagrant fouls over the NBA All-Star Weekend when he showed up at one event in a flamboyant plaid suit and at another in a head-to-toe mustard-color ensemble. But Welch insists his best accessory is God-given. “He has an incredible smile,” he says.