"Knicks starting point guard Chris Duhon is in the midst of one of his horrific stretches, which means coach Mike D'Antoni is in the midst of trying to spin it, touting his intangibles.

As he has been since arriving on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's recommendation, Duhon is the teacher's pet and hell will freeze over before D'Antoni yanks him from the starting lineup. But it appears time for D'Antoni to reduce Duhon's minutes and try to cultivate a new ballhandler in Larry Hughes, despite their feud. Hughes was the lone Knick not to play in Sunday's historic 50-point defeat to Dallas at the Garden.

With Nate Robinson likely to miss tonight's Minnesota game with his strained hamstring and rookie Toney Douglas looking lost Sunday, Hughes may be D'Antoni's best option -- even if the veteran recently called D'Antoni's methods "a joke." D'Antoni wouldn't commit yesterday to rolling with Hughes again, but it seems likely."