Key Matchup: Kemba Walker vs. Iman Shumpert — in the past, Kemba has had trouble with Shumpert’s defense. He’s quick and just gets how to position himself on defense to help stymie penetrating guards. And he has quick hands on defense, which couple with his pressure to force steals and turnovers. That could be pretty doggone important considering Augustin’s out with his big toe injury, which effectively makes Walker one of the very few scoring threats for the Bobcats.

Here is a pretty good take on what the Knicks are lacking on both sides of the ball. Shumpert and Douglas have to stay in front of the Bobcat guards, and Amar’e could channel Marc Gasol by making some mid range jumpers to stretch the defense in that space.

“We’ll have to see,” Johnson said. “If we get him back [tomorrow], which would be the earliest, [we would have] two or three or four practices, depending on our practice schedule, and be ready for a game? I’m not sure. That’d be pretty adventurous.”

* Johnson said the same starting five from Saturday’s game — Deron Williams, Anthony Morrow, Damion James, Shelden Williams and Brook Lopez — will start tonight against the Knicks at the Garden. Instead of holding practice yesterday, the Nets spent the day working with the team’s strength and conditioning staff.

Always was curious about “flu-like symptoms”…either you have the flu or you don’t, correct?

Ray Allen laughed the other day when he was asked about the Knicks attempt to guard him. He wasn’t laughing at their effort, even though game 3 was pretty lame, he was laughing because when he’s in rhythm, as he’s been all series, he’s simply unguardable.

The Knicks need to play a perfect game to advance as the Celtics know the importance of getting extra rest.

Via MSG

While their effort to get back is solid, the Celtics can be run on. The more that Rondo drives deep, the more they are left naked in the back and match up slowly.

• The Celtics have also had issues getting back with increased turnovers this season.

• In the halfcourt, the Celtics play a very physical style. Ball pressure is solid, but their contact with cutters is fierce. They hold and bump players in the paint.

• Post defenders are somewhat active but will switch coverages. Garnett has the ability to front, but he plays mind games with the player that he defends.

• Their help defense schemes are suffocating, and most drivers are met quickly. Their goal is to eliminate first options. Drivers are met by a ton of help defenders.

This situation, to me, is a lot different recent skid or not. This team is better I believe, and it matches up well against a top 4 seed. They have players who know that NBA basketball, meaningful basketball, is supposed to happen in the early summer.

So the Knicks can handle their business at home and fans can hang around to see if John Wall and the Wizards can beat the Bobcats.

Either way this is about the Knicks handling their business against the Cavs, getting back to .500, and pushing the magic number to a single game.

Assuming Williams does play, the stage is set for some drama. It will be the Knicks, with Carmelo Anthony, against the Nets, with Deron Williams, the first meeting between the two superstars that came to dominate the trade deadline, a way to gauge who got the better deal. A win would help the Nets forget those 50 losses.

For more from the Nets side, including an interesting concept for season ticket holders to the new arena in Brooklyn, click here.

That’s life of a Celtics fan.

Unfortunately for Troy Murphy, the luck (or skill) of the former Fighting Irish standout hasn’t blended as easy as the blatant synergy. Murphy has serious rust and, along with Carlos Arroyo, hasn’t earned the trust of head coach Doc Rivers.

I know, I know Knicks fans watch him go for 30 and 10 tonight.

That’s life of a Knicks fan.

Truth is the Celtics haven’t been that good since the trade and have watched as the Chicago Bulls have zoomed along side them in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Celtics are maintaining their pace as they are primed to make another serious playoff push, and if there’s anyone who’s taking a breather it’s Paul Pierce, whose made just 11 field goals in his last 4 games.

I know, I know, he loves the Garden.

Yup. They switched on pick and rolls back then too.

Read: “Another team that will be bringing energy that the Knicks better match today.”

The Bucks are last in the NBA in offense and 4th in defensive rating. They have 27 wins. The bottom line is that the Knicks need to win this road game in a situation where the Bucks, as bad as they have been, are still in the playoff hunt and have the motive to play with energy.

Indiana looked like it might cruise to the playoffs, winning seven of its first eight games under coach Frank Vogel, but has since lost 10 of 13.

Despite losing again Friday, Danny Granger finally seemed to find his shot, finishing with 25 points and making 3 of 5 from 3-point range to end an 0-for-12 drought. He averaged 13.6 points on 27.5 percent shooting in his previous five games.

After losses to Minnesota and Toronto, the Pacers’ schedule is about to get much tougher. Following Tuesday’s home game against New York, Indiana faces Boston, Chicago and Memphis.

“It’s not going to get any easier,” said Granger, who had 25 points and a career-best 17 rebounds against the Knicks in January. “We really let ourselves down, we really dropped the ball. We had a few teams that we should have beaten and we didn’t. Now we’ve got playoff teams. It’s probably one of the hardest stretches we’ll play this year. We’ve got to buckle down or we’re going to miss this playoff spot.”

The team sounds defeated. Obviously, there is no way the Knicks can accept splitting this home and home. Winning one out of two on back-to-backs on the recent trip was more than acceptable. Going 1 and 1 here would be a disappointment.

I’ve said it before but you can’t help but note the Grizzlies’ sureness in what they are doing right now. They built an early lead in this one by working inside (68 points overall in the lane to OKC’s 46). Marc Gasol seems to like getting the team started offensively in games, the difference tonight was that he stayed active throughout; although, he pretty much had to when OKC went small and played Durant on him. Still, Gasol was aggressive most of the night, made some nice passes (like the little running lob he dropped over Durant and another defender to, I believe, Zach Randolph), and had his outside jumper working to boot.Randolph scored 10 in the fourth quarter but was otherwise keyed-in on by the Thunder defense. This did lead to four assists though, as the Grizzlies did a nice job of cutting to the basket when their defender left to double Zach.

Memphis looks like a lock for the 8th seed and are doing it without Rudy Gay who has been on the shelf with a shoulder injury. At the center of the solid play is Randolph, the former Knick who just does his thing year after year. What’s amazing is that no one, even those in support of the Knicks’ decision to clear cap space, thought Z-Bo had a “bad” contract. He plays hard every night. I never understood the “double post” philosophy, but there is little doubt that Randolph continues to earn his money by playing hard and playing well.

For more on the Grizz, check out Brendan Brown’s scouting report.