Coach Pat Riley has relied on two-headed point-guard platoons before, and apparently he's content to do it again with Anthony Carter and Rod Strickland.

When Riley coached the Knicks to three straight Atlantic Division titles in the early '90s, he employed several point-guard tandems, including: Mark Jackson-Greg Anthony; Anthony-Doc Rivers; and a four-way rotation of Anthony, Rivers, Derek Harper and John Starks in 1993-94, the season New York finished one victory shy of an NBA title. During Riley's Heat tenure, Tim Hardaway was the primary point guard.

In Wednesday's 97-92 season-opening victory over the Toronto Raptors, Carter had 11 points, seven assists and two turnovers in 32 minutes. Strickland, who was hampered by a sore hamstring, had five assists with no turnovers but made only 1 of 5 shots in 16 minutes.

"The point guards played the game well last night, but a lot of mistakes were born out of guys trying to do too much," Riley said. "You're going to see defenses play our point guards different than the past, but I think we're going to get great play from that position."

Carter, who seems to be over his strained abdomen muscle, is the starter. But if the team is running smoothly under Strickland's veteran direction, don't look for a quick hook.