Greenburgh, N.Y. ? The Celtics are getting a lot of preseason hype for their Big Three lineup, with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. But Garnett says the Knicks should not be overlooked for what they added this offseason in power forward Zach Randolph to a frontcourt that already had center Eddy Curry.

“I feel like they’re going to be one of biggest 1-2 punches in the league,” Garnett said.

The Knicks avenged an embarrassing 40-point blowout last week in Boston with an impressive and noticeably determined 94-87 victory on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

“Right now you haven’t seen all that Zach can do,” said Garnett, who faced Randolph plenty when the two were in the Western Conference. “I know when he wants to, he can lock down (on defense). He has a nice face-up game from about 19 feet out. He can put the ball on the floor, he can go left, right.”

The question remains, however, if Randolph can do what he does with Curry in the game with him. In three preseason games the two have played together thus far, the results haven’t been as convincing as Garnett suggests.

Isiah Thomas said he decided to leave Curry on the bench after the big man picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter because the Celtics went with a small lineup. The Celtics gave the anticipated starter Kendrick Perkins the night off and used versatile Brian Scalabrine at the center spot. In theory, Scalabrine’s ability to hit the long ball would cause the Knicks defense to stretch and allow Garnett more space in the paint.