"I'd be lying to you if I said it's not a concern," D'Antoni admitted. "I think we'll be fine, but until we do it, it's like anything else. You worry about it as a coach."

Though key players such as Al Harrington (5-for-14) and Nate Robinson (0-for-8) struggled mightily in the season-opening loss to the Miami Heat, the one glimmer of hope during what was mostly garbage time in the second half was the visual evidence that Danilo Gallinari, who was also stricken with the preseason shooting epidemic, had finally rediscovered his stroke. The 21-year-old Italian missed his first four shots, but then finished the game 7-for-14 from the field for a career-high 22 points.

What's more notable is that all seven of his makes were from three-point range. In fact, only one of his attempts was from within the arc.

The Knicks collectively were awful from the field at 33-for-87 (37.9 percent) and even worse from downtown at 10-for-39. If you remove Gallinari's 7-for-13 from three-point range, the rest of the team made just 3-of-26. That's an alarming number for a team that last season set an NBA record for three-pointers made and attempted and this season will obviously rely a great deal on the three-point bomb again.

Gallinari started the season on the bench, but it seems evident that if he can provide the shooter's touch the Knicks need to draw out the defense, which in turn opens up the middle for the pick-and-roll, it won't be long before D'Antoni moves Gallinari into the starting rotation.

HEAT 115, KNICKS 93: The Heat bridged the second and third quarters with a 27-7 run that broke open what had been a tight game through most of the first half. Poor shooting by the Knicks (0-1) seemed to impact the defensive effort, which fell apart in the third quarter when the Heat led by as many as 31 points. The Heat (1-0) knocked down open shot after open shot and were a scorching 56.6 percent from the field in the game.