‘Iron Man’ $uits up

LOS ANGELES — "Iron Man 3" is the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadows a sleepy weekend at the domestic box office.

The superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets.

Yesterday's studio estimates show director Michael Bay's true-crime tale "Pain & Gain" muscled into first place domestically with a $20 million debut.

The movie, starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. "Oblivion" slipped to second place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.

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‘Snare’ Jordan

Michael Jordan has taken another shot at love.

The 50-year-old Chicago Bulls legend — now owner of the Charlotte Bobcats — tied the knot Saturday night with 35-year-old Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, Jordan's manager said.

Jordan and Prieto exchanged vows at Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Fla., in front of about 300 well-wishers.

Guests at the Bear's Club — a golf paradise in Jupiter designed by Jack Nicklaus — included Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee and Ahmad Rashad.

Former Chicago teammates Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc and Scottie Pippen also attended.

AP Photo/JUMP.DC, Joe Buissink

Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto

Jordan led the Bulls to six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998.

Prieto looked stunning in a French silk voile corseted sheer sheath gown by J'Aton Couture.

Several big-name musical acts, such as MC Lyte, Robin Thicke and Usher, performed.

Jordan was previously married to Juanita Vanoy from 1989 to 2006.

In lieu of wedding gifts, the lovebirds asked for donations to the James R. Jordan Foundation, a charity honoring the basketball great's slain father.

Jordan acquired the Bobcats from previous owner Bob Johnson in early 2010, and the team has faltered badly ever since.

Over the past three seasons, Charlotte has posted win-loss records of 34-48, 7-59 and 21-61.

david.li@nyposdt.com

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Selections are truly Giants

The Giants did not know which specific players they would select in the NFL Draft, but they did have a definitive strategy as to what areas of need they wanted to address. Sure, they always attempt to pick the best player available when their selection rolls around, but this year — more than most years — they had a pre-set goal in mind.

Get bigger and tougher up front.

"Well, we went in with some pretty set ideas about what we wanted to accomplish going forward,'' coach Tom Coughlin said after the Giants added four linemen with their seven picks. "We did go ahead and address our offensive and defensive lines with some competitiveness achieved with regard to that.''

AP

WIDE BODY: Johnathan Hankins of Ohio State was one of several selections in the NFL Draft who made Big Blue even larger.

GIANTS DRAFT SELECTIONS

No one can predict the quality of the players taken, but there's no doubt about their size. The first three rounds added 880 pounds, with right tackle Justin Pugh of Syracuse expected to challenge for a starting job, 320-pound defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins of Ohio State expected to be an immediate rotational run-stuffer and defensive end Damontre Moore from Texas A&M filling some sort of pass-rusher role. Heck, even Ryan Nassib, the quarterback the Giants surprisingly traded up to get in the fourth round, is a linebacker-ish 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds.

The safety they took in the fifth round, Cooper Taylor of Richmond, actually is almost linebacker-sized at 6-foot-4, 228. Their seventh-round pick, guard Eric Herman of Ohio, is a 320-pound grinder, and the running back taken later in the seventh round, Michael Cox of UMass, is a big back at 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds.

"We think this year we did a good job,'' said Marc Ross, the Giants director of college scouting. "We were fortunate it was a strong draft for offensive linemen. We got a couple offensive linemen so that helped. You could say Ryan [Nassib] wasn't a need. It was a good year for DBs and we think we got a good DB. It was a good year for defensive line; we got a good defensive lineman that we think will help, so I think it was a good blend, a good mix this year for us.''

One draft cannot cure everything that might ail a roster. The most glaring omission was the lack of a single linebacker selected.

"I think you are always concerned with trying to be the best — have the best players you can,'' Coughlin said of the linebacker position. "I'm sure there will be other looks at what is available out there prior to going to camp.''

It was also surprising the Giants did not take any cornerbacks.

"We weren't able to get the corner situation," Coughlin said. "It seemed like each time we picked we weren't in a position to do anything about that.''

Taylor transferred to Richmond from Georgia Tech and will join a safety corps that includes Antrel Rolle, Stevie Johnson and Will Hill. Taylor is the biggest of the bunch and, given the way defenses line up against the many spread offenses in the league, he could eventually fill the hybrid linebacker role Deon Grant played in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2011.

"I can envision him, honestly, on special teams with that size and speed,'' general manager Jerry Reese said of Taylor. "I can envision him being that third safety in some of the three-safety looks that [defensive coordinator] Perry Fewell likes to use sometimes. A big, tough guy, we like his skill set. He's got some redeeming qualities that we liked and he'll create some competition in the backfield with our safety group.''

paul. schwartz@nypost.com

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Eli’s not looking over his shoulder

The Giants traded up in the fourth round of the NFL Draft to take a quarterback, Ryan Nassib, who is nine years younger than Eli Manning. That maneuver, Manning says, did not spark introspection into his football mortality.

"No, it really doesn't,'' Manning said yesterday at a March of Dimes March for Babies event in Manhattan. "I feel like I'm playing at a high level, this is the prime of my career, and I appreciate my job every day. I'm fortunate that I get to play quarterback in the NFL and I love all the aspects, the work that goes into it. And I'm still hungry to improve my game, to get better, and to win more championships in New York.

ELI MANNING
"Still hungry to improve"

"I understand that one day it will end. And the thing about it in this league is you never know when that day will come. You never know what's going to happen, so you got to take advantage of it and work hard to make sure that every year that you play you do everything you can to win another championship.''

GIANTS DRAFT SELECTIONS

It will not be much of a different dynamic, Manning said, having a rookie quarterback around. In the past, he has had veterans — David Carr or Sage Rosenfels — on the scene to work with. With a first-year player in Nassib at his position, figure Manning won't be getting his own coffee or buying his own donuts very often.

"It will be unique, we haven't had a drafted quarterback [in a while],'' Manning said. "We've had some rookies over the years, but a drafted guy, this will be the first time. There'll be the usual small — not hazing, that's too strong of a word — but some rookie 'earning your role' as a drafted quarterback in the NFL.''

paul.schwartz@nypost.com

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Idzik sticks to guns

Jets coach Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik sat next to each other at a table in front of the media Saturday evening answering questions about their 2013 draft class.

When Ryan was asked about the quarterback situation and said, "You can't have six quarterbacks forever ..." Idzik turned to Ryan and said softly enough that the microphones didn't pick it up, "We can't?" in a sarcastic, somewhat defiant tone.

That seems to be Idzik's approach right now. He is going to do things his way and he really does not care what anyone outside the Jets organization thinks.

AP

WELL-ARMED: John Idzik's decision to draft Geno Smith was one example of the Jets' new general manager having the confidence to call his own shots.

It is a departure from how the Jets have done business for the last few years when they have been influenced by public opinion and back pages.

Consider in the last eight days, Idzik traded the most talented player on his roster, drafted a quarterback that comes with a ton of upside but is no sure thing and drafted two defensive players in the first round despite the public outcry to add playmakers on offense.

Oh yeah, and Tim Tebow is still on the roster.

JETS DRAFT SELECTIONS

The Jets hired Idzik in part because they believed he had the perfect temperament to calm things down around the team. He still has some work to do in that department, but he demonstrated he was in charge during the draft. Even Ryan seemed to shrink sitting next to Idzik. The blustery coach used to dominate any room he was in. During the draft, it looked as if he were clearly riding shotgun.

It's unlikely the 2013 Jets will show the dividends of Idzik's plan. He spent the draft grabbing players the team had rated highly on its board, not players that fill needs with an eye on 2014 and beyond.

They took quarterback Geno Smith of West Virginia, rated the highest at the position in the draft by many people, and got him in the second round. But people around the league are skeptical about how soon he'll be ready to play.

"He should hold a clipboard for a year," one league executive said.

In the near future, Idzik must figure out what to do with his quarterbacks. As of yesterday, sources close to Mark Sanchez said he had not been told anything beyond Smith was drafted to add to the competition. Sanchez will be back at the Jets training center today for offseason workouts.

There has been speculation Idzik could dump Sanchez soon. But Idzik has shown he is willing to wait on things. He did not trade Revis to the Buccaneers until the week before the draft despite pressure from his agents and the Bucs. The popular consensus was Tebow would be jettisoned as soon as he could be, but Idzik has held on to him.

If you look at the Sanchez situation, other than a $500,000 workout bonus he earns as the offseason goes along, there is no reason to move quickly. The Jets could keep Sanchez into training camp, see if another team suffers an injury at the position and try to trade him then. The Jets would have to eat some of his salary, but Sanchez remains as good as most backups around the league.

Idzik has shown he has the stomach to go against popular opinion and make tough decisions. In the end, though, he will be judged in the long run on whether they were right or wrong.

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Depardieu & Bisset film Dominique Strauss-Kahn movie in Tribeca

Gérard Depardieu took time out from playing Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a movie about the disgraced French pol's New York City sex scandal to relax with co-star Jacqueline Bisset in Tribeca.

The French actor, 64, no stranger to controversy, has been filming scenes in the city depicting the paparazzi's pursuit of DSK after his arrest on charges that he sexually assaulted a maid at Midtown's Sofitel New York hotel.

Bisset, 68, plays DSK's wife, US-born TV journalist Anne Sinclair.

A scene in which Depardieu's DSK is under house arrest was filmed outside the same $50,000-a-month Tribeca townhouse the real DSK rented while facing criminal charges.

FRENCH ROLES:Disgraced pol Dominique Strauss-Kahn and wife Anne Sinclair are played by Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset during filming in Tribeca.

A. Ariani/Splash News

Depardieu has made it known he's happy to portray the man whose French presidential aspirations crashed when he was indicted in May 2011.

"He is very French: arrogant, smug," the actor told Swiss TV last year.

"I will do it because I don't like him."

Filming for the movie, directed by Abel Ferrara, was also planned for Paris and Washington, DC.

The case against DSK collapsed over the maid's alleged lack of credibility.

DSK and Sinclair separated after he was freed, and they later divorced.

French authorities have been displeased with Depardieu after he announced last year that he was moving over the Belgian border and switching his citizenship to Russian to avoid a new top tax rate in France of 75 percent.

He also angered officials in Paris this month when he failed to appear for a court hearing to answer charges that he was drunk when he fell off a scooter.

His lawyer blamed his absence on his being in New York for filming. Depardieu faces a fine and up to two years in jail.

A new hearing is set for May 24.

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Jones in God’s ‘country’

George Jones — considered the greatest country singer of all time, whose struggle with alcoholism inspired an Oscar-winning movie — died yesterday in Nashville at age 81.

"If we could all sound like we wanted to, then we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once said.

Frank Sinatra called him "the second-best singer in America."

Jones, born in tiny Saratoga, Texas, on Sept. 12, 1931, got his first top-10 hit with "Why Baby Why" in 1955 and his first No. 1 song, "White Lightning," in 1959. Then came "Tender Years," "Window Up Above" and "She Thinks I Still Care."

LEGEND: Tammy Wynette sings decades ago with George Jones, who died yesterday after a tumultuous life.

But it was his failed marriages — particularly his tumultuous relationship with fellow country hit maker Tammy Wynette — out-of-control drinking, fights and arrests and then redemption that made him legendary and inspired the 1983 movie "Tender Mercies."

Robert Duvall won the "Best Actor" Oscar for playing a Jones-like, God-finding recovering alcoholic named Mac Sledge.

Jones' boozy, honky-tonk lifestyle earned him the nickname "No Show Jones" for his failure to appear at gigs.

After two divorces, he married Wynette in 1969, launching a partnership that succeeded professionally but soon soured personally.

Wynette, like Jones' second wife, used to hide his car keys. One night she awoke to discover him missing and found him at a bar. He had driven their riding mower 10 miles down a highway, she wrote in her autobiography named after her hit "Stand By Your Man."

"I told you she'd come after me," Jones told his drinking buddies. He later poked fun at himself by riding a mower in a 1996 video. Wynette said he once threatened her with a gun, and they divorced in 1975.

His career turned around in 1980 when Billy Sherrill, Wynette's producer, convinced him to record "He Stopped Loving Her Today."

It became an instant classic, won a Grammy — and increased Jones' concert fee from $2,500 to $25,000.

"There is a God," he concluded.

His fourth wife, Nancy, convinced him to deal with his addiction to drink and drugs.

Jones received a lifetime achievement Grammy last year and was on a farewell tour when he was hospitalized earlier this month with fever and irregular heart pressure.

"My heart is absolutely broken," said Dolly Parton yesterday.

"Heaven better get ready for George Jones. He will always be the greatest singer of real country music," said Alan Jackson. "There'll never be another."

andy.soltis@nypost.com

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West Virginia QB spells end of days for Sanchez

Get ready for Broadway Geno.

The Jets pulled a stunner with the seventh pick of the second round of the NFL Draft last night, selecting West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, and the new guy wasted no time honoring the legacy of Joe Namath.

"We're going to the playoffs next year," Smith said on NFL Network. He also said he is here to win the starting job.

Smith was viewed by many people as the best quarterback in this year's draft but he slid out of the first round Thursday night as America watched him sit in the green room not hearing his name called. He had to wait for the Jets' pick to come up at No. 39 overall last night to be chosen.

Getty Images

March Sanchez

This is a bold move by new general manager John Idzik, who just got a face on his rebuilding project and it could spell the end of Mark Sanchez's time as a Jet.

Smith said he views himself as a franchise quarterback.

"I do believe so for a number of reasons," Smith said on a conference call with reporters. "The main thing is I'm going to come in to practice. I'm going to come in to work. I'm going to compete daily. I'm going to do my best to better my teammates in order for us to win Super Bowls."

JETS DRAFT SELECTIONS

Coach Rex Ryan may need a new tattoo with Smith's jersey on his wife.

The Jets are saying Sanchez will compete for the starting job, but it seems unlikely they will keep him around. He would carry a $17 million salary cap hit, but the team could designate Sanchez a post-June 1 cut to save on salary cap space. He would then count $12.3 million against the cap in 2013, less than he would if he is on the roster, and $4.7 million in 2014. The Jets would owe Sanchez at least $8.25 million, a check that would be tough for owner Woody Johnson to cut, but why keep him around if Smith is viewed as your future?

"What this means for Mark Sanchez is competition," Idzik said, staying evasive when pressed about how long Sanchez will remain a Jet. "Mark is open to that. We've had discussions about that. I think he buys into the fact that that helps him. It helps any player on our team and, as a result, it helps our team."

Smith, a 6-foot-2, 218 pounder, threw for 42 touchdowns and six interceptions for the Mountaineers last year. He posted back-to-back 4,000 yards seasons in college. He threw for 656 yards and eight touchdowns in a 70-63 victory over Baylor on Sept. 29. He has a strong arm and is quick (4.56 40-yard dash), but struggled in the second half of last season and has played poorly in cold-weather games. There are questions whether he was a product of the West Virginia system.

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Cervelli breaks hand, Nova exits win early

How many injuries to front-line players can a team absorb before it becomes fertilizer to keep the grass green?

The Yankees are about to find out after watching Francisco Cervelli and Ivan Nova exit last night's 6-4 win over the free-falling Blue Jays in front of an announced Yankee Stadium crowd of 36,151.

"Guys have to step up like tonight,'' manager Joe Girardi said when asked how much hurt can a team take. "You keep finding ways, that's what you do.''

It helped the miserable Blue Jays were in the third-base dugout. Their pitchers issued 10 walks and the Yankees scored runs on a wild pitch and passed ball.

Paul J. Bereswill

HANDS DOWN: Francisco Cervelli is escorted off the field by trainer Steve Donohue and manager Joe Girardi after breaking his right hand in the first inning of the Yankees' 6-4 win over the Blue Jays. Ivan Nova also exited with right elbow soreness.

Before the game was three innings old, Cervelli was gone with a fractured right hand and Nova was removed with pain in his right elbow.

Cervelli's injury was a product of a foul tip hitting him in the exposed knuckle. He will be operated on today by Dr. Melvin Rossenwasser at New York Presbyterian Hospital and will be out a minimum of six weeks. Catcher Austin Romine was summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will join the club today.

Nova told the medical staff the area above his elbow was stiff after the second inning, but he wanted to test it in the third. After his velocity was down a tick and he hit a batter with a curveball, Girardi called for David Phelps and Nova was sent for an MRI exam. The Yankees did not have the results last night.

Girardi was not ready to say Nova will miss a start, but can anybody who has been following the elongated Yankees medical saga really believe Nova will not join the long line of players on the disabled list?

With Cervelli joining Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson on the shelf, they may have to make room for Kevin Youkilis. He missed a sixth straight game, and if a lower back problem doesn't allow him to play today the corner infielder is likely headed to the DL.

"You can't think about it — injury bug hit us hard right now," said David Robertson, who gave up a one-out solo homer in the eighth to Jose Bautista that cut the Yankees lead to 5-4 before Brett Gardner's homer in the eighth accounted for the final run. "Nothing we can do about it.''

Except try to keep the wheels from completely coming off. So far the 13-9 Yankees have accomplished that.

"We have a scrappy bunch,'' said Phelps, whose four innings of one-run relief got him the victory. "We are going to win games a lot of different ways.''

But how long can a team with Jayson Nix at third base, Ben Francisco the DH against lefties and Lyle Overbay playing first base every day stay afloat?

Probably as long as the pitching holds up. If Nova lands on the DL, it isn't as damaging as CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda or Andy Pettitte going down. The difference between Phelps and Nova is minimal, and Phelps' competitiveness may trump Nova's superior stuff.

Also, the Yankees bullpen is a strength even though it was tested when Mariano Rivera loaded the bases in the ninth only to post his eighth save in as many chances by whiffing Colby Rasmus.

"It's exciting baseball, the ninth inning. I am not sure my hair color needs it, but that's baseball,'' said Girardi, who has to be wondering what can happen next. "Injuries are part of the game, part of life."

And often part of the ruination of a season.

george.king@nypost.com

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Knicks smother Celtics in Game 3

BOSTON — The Celtics mystique didn't matter last night. The 17 championship banners didn't matter. The pomp and circumstance and ceremonial tributes didn't matter, either. Neither did the parquet and raucous crowd.

In fact, Boston fans booed at halftime and became quiet in the second half. Somewhere, Red Auerbach was not smoking a victory cigar.

Nothing could inspire the Celtics against coach Mike Woodson's Knicks, who are simply the superior team.

The Knicks trampled on everything Boston last night at TD Garden, suffocating them in a 90-76 Game 3 rout, holding the sickly Celtics offense to 31 first-half points. The Knicks are one win tomorrow afternooon from sweep revenge.

BLOCK PARTY: Jason Kidd rejects a shot from the Celtics' Jeff Green in last night's 90-76 victory in Game 3 at the Garden, putting the Knicks one game away from a first-round sweep.

DUNK CITY: Carmelo Anthony dunks home two of his 26 points in last night's 90-76 Knicks rout of the Celtics at TD Garden in Game 3 of the first-round series.

With a wire-to-wire devastation of the Celtics, the Knicks took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. No NBA team has ever recovered to win a series in that predicament.

Carmelo Anthony finished with a solid 26 points and is on the verge of his first sweep as an NBA player.

"To accomplish that would be spectacular,'' Anthony said. "It would be a dream come true. I never swept anybody. We know Game 4 is win or go home. I've been on that side of the pole plenty of times. I know that feeling. We got to be prepared for the punches they throw.''

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

The Knicks and Celtics go again tomorrow on the parquet in Game 4 as the Knicks could post their first playoff sweep of the Celtics since 1951 when they won 2-0 .

The Celtics haven't cracked 80 points yet in the first three games, averaging 75 points.

"We came in here believing we can win the basketball game and we did it,'' said Anthony. "Total team effort. Everybody contributed offensively and defensively.''

"It feels good,'' added Anthony, the lone active Knick on the 2011 team swept by Boston. "Sitting here in this situation, sitting in the drivers seat. We want to close the deal and seal the deal Sunday.''

The Knicks knocked the Celtics out as Atlantic Division champions and now are primed to knock them out of the season — and maybe out of their recent Big Three era.

"Our level of intensity on defense never dropped,'' said Iman Shumpert, who had three steals. "We're playing great on defense and the ball is moving on offense."

The Knicks again got sterling point-guard play from Raymond Felton (15 points, 10 assists) and Pablo Prigioni, whose ankle looked perfect. Prigioni played feisty defense and drilled three 3-pointers in the first half as the Knicks took a 47-31 halftime lead.

"If we can sweep, it would be something special for all of us and on top of that we get a lot of rest,'' Felton said. "And Indiana and Atlanta can go to a Game 7.''

Jason Kidd (six assists, six rebounds) ended the first half by stripping Kevin Garnett, who finished with just 12 points. Paul Pierce was 2 of 10 in the first half and wound up with 17.

Celtics fans started heading to the exits after Steve Novak drilled a 3-pointer to make it 73-54 with 10:13 left — the Knicks' biggest lead to that point.

"Close out games are always tough,'' Woodson said. "I just told our guys at the end. Let's be humble. We followed the game plan and it worked.''

The only down note came when J.R. Smith got an automatic ejection for a flagrant 2 after throwing his elbow at Jason Terry, who was hounding him on defense.

But otherwise the Knicks kept their pose. "We wanted to minimize the crowd and take them out of it." Tyson Chandler said.

"I thought we did lose our spirit early on,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

A pregame moment of silence for the Boston Marathon bombings was marred by a few fans yelling out Pierce and Garnett's names. There was another ceremony held at the end of the first quarter as the Massachusetts governor, FBI first responders, Watertown police chief, Boston police chief and medics from the nearby hospitals were honored.

The Knicks outscored the Celtics, 24-13, in the second quarter to take control. Anthony hit four straight shots in the second period, including an alley-oop from Kidd. After Felton drained a 3-pointer, the lead swelled to 47-29 with 55 seconds left in the half and it was all but over.

"We came out, we held our composure and we kept the crowd out of the game early," Kenyon Martin said.

Perhaps the final dagger came with 3:45 left in the third quarter when Shumpert pilfered the ball from Pierce and fed Anthony for a 3-pointer and a 61-44 lead. The Knicks had made it look easy in one of the toughest playoff buildings in the league.

marc.berman@nypost.com

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10th-inning grand slam caps rally as Mets bail out Harvey

The Mets' self-proclaimed "El Hombre" came up grande, starting a raucous celebration near home plate at Citi Field after last night's 10th inning.

Jordany Valdespin knew he had made solid contact against Josh Wall and was content believing he had just delivered a game-ending sacrifice fly. The ball kept going, giving Valdespin a moment to cherish for all-time's sake.

"I hit the ball in the air and the only thing I was thinking was, 'We won the game,' " Valdespin said after his game-winning grand slam — the sixth in franchise history — gave the Mets a 7-3 victory over the Dodgers. "Every fly ball in the outfield was a sacrifice to win the game."

Reuters

VALD IS BEAUTIFUL: Jordany Valdespin celebrates as he rounds the bases after his 10th-inning grand slam delivered the Mets a 7-3 win over the Dodgers. The Mets tied it with two outs in the ninth, allowing Matt Harvey to avoid his first loss of the season.

The Mets (10-9) were mostly dormant until the ninth inning, on a night Matt Harvey appeared mortal by surrendering a replay-aided, two-run homer to Matt Kemp that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the sixth. But David Wright stroked a game-tying RBI single off Brandon League with two outs in the ninth, after pinch-hitter Mike Baxter had hustled out a leadoff bloop double, and the Mets rallied in the 10th, culminating with Valdespin's blast.

Though Valdespin is something of a lightning rod in the Mets' clubhouse because of his flamboyance, teammates couldn't help but appreciate him last night.

"That's the beauty of his cockiness, swagger — whatever you want to call it," Justin Turner said. "He thrives in those situations."

Told that Valdespin was unsure of today's starting time (1:10 p.m.) until a team official informed Valdespin as he departed the clubhouse last night, Turner laughed.

"See, a double-edged sword," Turner said.

John Buck smacked a leadoff single in the 10th before Ike Davis walked and Marlon Byrd moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Lucas Duda was intentionally walked before Valdespin — against a defensive alignment that featured just two outfielders and an extra infielder playing between first and second base — cleared the right-field fence. Kevin McReynolds had been the last Mets player to hit a walkoff grand slam, on June 25, 1991 against the Expos.

"[Valdespin] is a talented kid," manager Terry Collins said. "When he's swinging the bat like he can, he can be real dangerous."

LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice, Scott Atchison and Bobby Parnell gave the Mets a chance by combining for four shutout innings.

Harvey had his fastball hopping, as has become the norm, but the difference between a win and no-decision was a well-placed Kemp shot in the sixth inning.

Kemp hit a drive to the right-field corner that was originally ruled in play for an RBI triple, but umpires convened for a replay review that showed the ball hitting a security guard behind the fence and caroming onto the field.

The blast placed Harvey into a 3-1 hole, from which the Mets didn't recover until Wright's game-tying single in the ninth. Harvey allowed three earned runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings.

"In my mind I [stunk] and I have to be better," Harvey said.

Harvey was cruising in a 1-1 tie in the sixth, when he walked Adrian Gonzalez with two outs. Kemp's ensuing homer was his first this season and only the second allowed by Harvey in 35 innings.

Harvey was attempting to become the first pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to win his first five starts in a season while pitching at least seven innings and allowing one run or less. But Kemp's home run ended that bid, and Harvey was removed for a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

Turner's sacrifice fly pulled the Mets within 3-2 in the sixth after reliever J.P. Howell walked Byrd and Duda in succession to begin the inning.

Ted Lilly, in his season debut, frustrated the Mets with his assortment of off-speed pitches, allowing one run on six hits and two walks over five innings with seven strikeouts. The left-hander made just eight starts last season before undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.

mpuma@nypost.com

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New GM has two picks in first round

John Idzik has been pointing to this day since taking the job as Jets general manager nearly 100 days ago.

Idzik was officially hired to replace Mike Tannenbaum on Friday, Jan. 18. Three days later, he was on a plane bound for Mobile, Ala., to watch Senior Bowl practice and begin evaluating players he might select in the NFL Draft, which begins tonight.

"The draft will be very important to us," Idzik said at his introductory press conference. "That will be a lifeline for us, year-in and year-out."

This Sunday marks the 100th day Idzik has been on the job. Most of that time has been spent tearing down the Jets' roster from last year's 6-10 team and fixing the salary-cap situation. All of that culminated this week with the trade of star cornerback Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay.

AP

GOOD CATCH? Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert would be a big plus for the Jets' offense.

Now, the rebuilding begins.

Sure, the Jets added a few free agents in the last six weeks, but none of them is seen as a long-term Jet. With the ninth and 13th picks in the first round tonight, Jets fans will begin to see what Idzik's vision is for the future of this team.

So, which direction will he go? No one seems to know.

JETS 2013 SCHEDULE

Idzik has proven to be a very good poker player during his time on the job. He's hard to read, even for people within the Jets organization. A source said this week Idzik has been a "one-man show" and has not told many people what he is planning.

He could go a number of ways with the picks tonight and throughout the next three days. The Jets' list of needs basically sounds like a depth chart: QB, WR, TE, G, T, RB, OLB, CB, S.

"They have as many needs as any team in the National Football League, so many question marks, so many areas they could go," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said.

Kiper said the Jets have the worst team in the NFL on paper. Make no mistake, this year's draft is not about finding a few complementary pieces, it is about finding building blocks for the next decade.

With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense for the Jets to trade one of the top two picks to a team looking to move up in Round 1 and acquire more picks. The Jets, league sources said, have called around to let it be known they are open to moving, but finding a trade partner will be dictated by how the picks before the Jets fall.

If the Jets hold on to both picks, the positions they are expected to target are: outside linebacker, guard, tight end or wide receiver. They could surprise everyone and take a quarterback, but it seems unlikely because of the uncertainty surrounding this year's QB class.

The Jets have not had a strong pass rusher since John Abraham left in 2006. LSU's Barkevious Mingo and Georgia's Jarvis Jones could fill that need. Both starting guards from last year are gone, leaving the possibility they could take Alabama's Chance Warmack or North Carolina's Jonathan Cooper.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said yesterday he believes the Jets could take 5-foot-8 wide receiver Tavon Austin out of West Virginia, but if they are frightened off by his size, Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert (6-6, 250) makes a lot of sense.

"I think Eifert — his game, size and what he does fits today's NFL to a T," Mayock said. "He is a vertical tight end that can catch the football, can get by as a blocker.

"If you're worried about the wide receiver class, and the way I'm looking at it, you need Sanchez to be more productive and you don't like the guys on the edge, I plug Eifert in the middle."

Idzik began to write his legacy as Jets GM on Sunday when he sent Revis packing. Tonight, he adds another chapter. The Jets can't afford for it to be a dud.

brian.costello@nypost.com

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No-decision doesn’t knock Amazin’ phenom off Midsummer Classic track

The Mets held an All-Star press conference yesterday at City Hall for the July 16 game at Citi Field. On the cover of the Mets' 2013 yearbook are the 48 players in Mets history who have been All-Stars. Matt Harvey would make it 49.

There is something about The Matt Harvey Show that brings out the best in the Mets, and last night's wild, 7-3 10-inning victory over the Dodgers at Citi Field was no exception.

David Wright's two-out single in the ninth scored Mike Baxter to tie the game at 3-3 and kept Harvey from getting the tough loss. Jordany Valdespin won it in the 10th with a walk-off grand slam, posting the Mets first walk-off grand slam since 1991 when Kevin McReynolds turned the trick.

Paul J. Bereswill

Matt Harvey

These Mets are a different team with Harvey on the mound. They are 5-0 in his starts and 5-9 in all other games.

It's all about winning for Harvey and that rubs off on the rest of the team.

"It was awesome,'' Harvey said of the Valdespin's moon shot over the right-field wall off Dodger reliever Josh Wall. "I was sitting next to [Valdespin] during that inning and [bench coach] Bob Geren came up to him and said, 'They are going to walk [Lucas Duda] and you are going to go out there and win the game.' And sure enough he did.''

Valdespin came into the game in the eighth as a pinch-hitter and remained calm in his game-winning at-bat.

"They teach me to be patient and hit my pitch hard; that's what I did,'' Valdespin said.

The Mets need more offense and that means more at-bats for Valdespin.

Harvey surrendered an opposite-field two-run home run to Matt Kemp in the sixth that just cleared the wall in right.

Because of that hit, Harvey was hard on himself.

"In my mind I [stunk] and I have to do better," he said. "Tonight was about winning that game and we did that.''

Harvey still has one more win than the rest of the starting staff combined. His four wins are tied with the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright for most in the NL. His ERA is 1.54.

He owns 109 strikeouts over his first 15 career games. The only Mets with more strikeouts over their first 15 games are Dwight Gooden (113) and Nolan Ryan (112).

Good company.

Mets broadcaster and former first baseman Keith Hernandez has seen a lot of dominant pitchers, and though he is not fond of making comparisons, he did put Harvey in the same sentence as Tom Seaver.

Earlier this week in a phone conversation I asked Seaver about Harvey and Tom Terrific said he really doesn't know that much about Harvey but added, "I'm a voracious readers of the box scores and his numbers have been pretty impressive.''

Last night's line for Harvey read: Six innings, three runs, four hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts. He wasn't Superman, but in the words of Terry Collins, "He pitched another very, very good game.''

Harvey also doubled and scored the Mets' first run. He showed a tremendous change-up, meaning his fourth pitch is becoming a major weapon.

Noted thinking-man's catcher John Buck: "They came out swinging aggressive and we both recognized that and went to the secondary pitches early. He pitched rather than threw and that's what makes him so good. He has the ability to throw the curve ball, slider, change-up along with the fastball, whatever he wants. He reminds me of Zack Greinke because he throws 98 when he wants, throws a slider at 90-91 like Zack and Zack threw curve ball and a change-up whenever he wanted.

"There's not many people that can throw that hard and pitch as well.''

"Matt Harvey expects a lot of himself,'' Collins added. "He's as prepared as anyone I've ever been around. He's been planning for this.''

If he continues to pitch like he has over his first five starts then come July 16 plan on The Matt Harvey Show being on the mound for the All-Star Game.

kevin.kernan@nypost.com

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Teams aren’t lining up for these players

Unless you're a connoisseur of line play, this year's NFL Draft isn't exactly going to be must-see TV.

The intrigue of Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III has been replaced by the less-than-scintillating questions of which offensive tackle the Chiefs will take No. 1 overall and how many guards will go in the top 10 when the process kicks off with the first round tonight at Radio City Music Hall.

The second and third rounds are tomorrow night, followed by the final four rounds Saturday.

What turned out to be one of the best quarterback drafts in a long time last year has been replaced by a passer class almost universally described as dreadful and a draft as a whole that's bereft of marquee names and playmakers.

At least the identity of the No. 1 overall pick by Kansas City — or if it will be the Chiefs making the choice — remains a mystery, though Texas A&M left tackle Luke Joeckel vs. Central Michigan left tackle Eric Fisher is hardly the stuff of future ESPN "30 for 30" documentaries.

The Chiefs are expected to go for Fisher, though new coach Andy Reid — knowing this draft is unlikely to turn around his misbegotten franchise — has made his feelings known about the quality of the overall class by all but renting a Times Square billboard to advertise his desire to trade down.

"It's like throwing a bunch of darts against the wall," an AFC personnel director told The Post yesterday. "I bet no two [draft] boards are anywhere alike, and nobody knows where anybody's going to go. I haven't seen a draft like this in a long time, and not in a good way."

The bigger storyline and source of intrigue is a perverse one: Will even one quarterback be taken in the first round?

Unlike last year, when Luck and Griffin were the first two players off the board (and the Redskins mortgaged their franchise to get the latter), scouts, analysts and team executives have practically made a pastime this offseason of criticizing this year's passer crop.

West Virginia's Geno Smith is considered by most to be the best of the quarterbacks, but neither he nor Florida State's E.J. Manuel are anywhere close to wearing the can't-miss label.

Reports yesterday the Bills might reach for Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib with the eighth overall pick were a source of angst in Buffalo instead of excitement.

"Worst group of quarterbacks I've seen in a while," an NFC general manager told The Post recently. "It's all projects and good athletes who could very easily [turn out to] be busts."

Aside from the quarterbacks, the only offensive playmaker creating any excitement is West Virginia slot receiver and return ace Tavon Austin, who could be headed to the Jets with the second of their two first-round picks (13th overall). But Austin's 5-foot-8 height makes him a huge question mark.

It also wouldn't surprise any scout if the first round passes tonight without a single running back being selected. Alabama's Eddie Lacy is considered the top back, but his stock has fallen dramatically after he didn't work out at the combine because of a hamstring injury and subsequently ran a 4.9 40-yard dash at his pro day last month.

What this draft has instead is plenty of quality offensive linemen, a top-heavy class of pass rushers, some promising cornerbacks and what one scout described as "a lot of depth in the later rounds."

The offensive-line class is so strong that not one but potentially two guards — Chance Warmack of Alabama and North Carolina's Jonathan Cooper — could be taken in the top 10. That's unheard of for that position, considering no guard has been among the first 10 picks since Chris Naeole by the Saints in 1997.

As a result, look for a lot of trades — perhaps starting with the Chiefs at No. 1. Several teams at the bottom of the first round are thought to be very interested in moving up to the 13-14-15 range, especially if a cornerback such as Alabama's Dee Milliner starts falling.

bhubbuch@nypost.com

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Mets on deck vs. Dodgers

TODAY — 1:10

RHP Jeremy Hefner (0-2, 7.07) vs.

LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

(2-1, 4.01)

Game on SNY, WFAN

(660 AM, 101.9 FM).

Three-game series

at home vs. Phillies begins tomorrow.

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

METS: Hefner has struggled out of the gate this season. After a solid first start April 5 in a loss to the Marlins (one run in six innings), he has given up a combined 10 runs in 12 innings across three appearances, including one inning of relief. He is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in three career appearances, all in relief, vs. the Dodgers.

DODGERS: The rookie Ryu has been progressively less effective in his first four major league starts, giving up (in order) one run, two runs, three, then five. He has gone at least six innings in every start, but no more than 6 1/3 in any.

STAT SO?

METS: Hefner has given up at least one home run in every appearance and a total of seven in 14 innings.

DODGERS: Ryu has struck out 26 to just five walks so far this year — a 5.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio that ranks in the top 15 in the majors.

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Felton responds to playoff pressure

Raymond Felton is using the playoffs to make his case in the inevitable comparisons with Jeremy Lin.

There was no more controversial event in the Knicks' offseason than when the team parted ways with Lin and brought in Felton from Portland to run the point.

Felton was absolutely terrific in the Knicks' 87-71 Game 2 win over the Celtics last night, penetrating into the lane, handling the ball flawlessly and ranking as perhaps the Knicks' second-best all-around player after Carmelo Anthony. Felton racked up 16 points on 8-for-15 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, notched a steal — and committed zero turnovers.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

BONUS POINT: Raymond Felton goes up for a layup past the Celtics' Jason Terry en route to scoring 16 points in the Knicks' convincing Game 2 win last night at the Garden.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

"Felton was aggressive," the Celtics' Kevin Garnett said. "I felt like he was the X-factor."

In the third quarter, when the Knicks outscored the Celtics 32-11 to take command, Felton scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting and led the team to 71 percent shooting for the period.

"He changed the game in the third quarter," Mike Woodson said.

Including a strong Game 1, Felton is averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.0 turnovers in the series. It's a far cry from Lin's miserable showing in the Rockets' Game 1 loss to the Thunder on Sunday, when the former Garden fan favorite shot a woeful 1-for-7 and scored four points with four turnovers.

Felton missed the chance to be the Knicks' playoff point guard two years ago when he was shipped to Denver in the trade for Carmelo Anthony. After Chauncey Billups got hurt against Boston in Game 1 that season, the Knicks' primary playoff point guard became Toney Douglas.

Last year, with Lin injured, the Knicks' playoff point guards against the Heat were Baron Davis and Mike Bibby.

Safe to say Felton is an upgrade and relishing his first Knicks postseason.

"I was definitely sad and upset a little bit that I left the first time," Felton said. "But things happen. I'm back. It has been great, and I'm loving every minute of it."

Felton and Lin had comparable regular seasons: Felton averaged 13.9 points, 5.5 assists and 2.3 turnovers while shooting 43 percent (36 percent from 3), and Lin delivered 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, 2.9 turnovers and shot 44 percent (34 percent from 3).

But Felton's not leaving it up for much debate in the playoffs.

mark.hale@nypost.com

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Foul trouble plagues KG

Ever since the Celtics staged their tribute to sleep-walking in the fourth quarter of Game 1, they stressed their laundry list of "to-do" items for the second game. There were usual goodies like "Try not to give the basketball to the Knicks a lot." But also high on the list, as it was before the series, was get Kevin Garnett involved.

Tuesday night, they tried again. Last night, they failed again.

The chief problem was foul trouble, which didn't sit all that well with the Celtics. Just 3:21 into the game, Garnett had two fouls and was on the bench. By halftime, he had three fouls — and less than 10 full minutes of playing time.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

"At times it's frustrating. Fouls are part of the game," said Garnett, who followed up his eight-point Game 1 cameo, with a 12-point, nine-shot, 24-minute walk-on last night. "The refs are calling things. It's an aggressive time in postseason play. Just got to be consistent and continue to put the onus on the refs and position myself not to foul so much."

And just got to score lots more points. As Garnett said, "They haven't scored 90 points yet. ... We can defend this team."

Something that has become sort of a problem for Boston is they haven't scored 80 yet. In Tuesday night's 87-71 defeat, they managed 23 points after halftime.

Of course, it's kind of hard when they're playing the series without Rajon Rondo and then their main inside force in negated.

"The fouls on Kevin, first of all they were horrendous and second they had a huge effect," coach Doc Rivers said after his Celtics staged their collapse in the third quarter instead of the fourth as in Game 1.

"Kevin had three fouls that...," Rivers added leaving the thought unfinished. "Him not being on the floor, playing 24 minutes and never getting in a rhythm when it looked like he was going to have a good game, hurt us. I thought if it could have gone either way on those [three], they all went at Kevin."

So the Celtics were left to once again vow they will get Garnett involved and resuscitate an offense that looks deader than Neanderthals.

"At times, it's frustrating," Garnett said. "Fouls are part of the game. The refs are calling things. It's an aggressive time in postseason play. Just got to be consistent and continue to put the onus on the refs and position myself not to foul so much."

As the Knicks were turning a threatened rout into reality in the third quarter, Rivers had no choice but to reinsert Garnett with four fouls with 5:00 left and the Celtics down 12 (when he left the game, Boston was down four). Garnett's fifth foul came on an offensive foul at 6:28 of the fourth when the Celtics' pulse was barely beating, down 13.

"Everything we do runs around getting the ball to Kevin inside and working from there," Paul Pierce said. "So when he gets in foul trouble we have to find ways to make adjustments."

In Game 2, they didn't.

fred.kerber@nypost.com

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J.R.: I want to retire here

Fresh off his Sixth Man Award, J.R. Smith is almost certain to opt out of his contract and become a free agent July 1. The Knicks are praying they are not outbid.

At Monday's press conference, Smith evaded a question on his contractual future, saying he will "worry'' about it when the time comes. However, in a TV appearance later, Smith said he hopes it works out here.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

"Without a doubt. I'm born in New Jersey, born and raised," Smith said. "I would love to retire a Knick."

Smith made $2.8M this season. With his Early-Bird rights, the Knicks are permitted to raise a new contract to $5.2M for a maximum four years. However, teams under the cap in search of a prime-time scorer can blow the Knicks out of the water.

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Finishing fading team in Boston would be wise move

You know what's coming: the parquet below, the banners up on high. The constant loop of highlights, Havlicek stealing the ball and Bird stealing the ball and Dave Cowens diving after loose balls like Pete Rose reaching for third base.

You know how it's going to sound, this first basketball game in Boston since the Patriots Day nightmare. You know how desperate the roars are going to be, maybe another sing-a-long national anthem at TD Garden, the crowd acting as sixth and seventh and eighth men, willing, cajoling, coaxing …

"Payback time," Celtics guard Avery Bradley said.

REUTERS

GR-8 START: J.R. Smith celebrates his 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer as the Knicks rolled to a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics with an 87-71 victory.

And here's the thing: The Knicks have a glorious opportunity Friday night to step on the Celtics, to lay some boot black on their necks, to nudge them ever closer to the abyss. Maybe the temptation will be to feel good about this, to rhapsodize about the 87-71 throttling they laid on the Celtics, to admire their handiwork like Reggie staring one all the way into the upper deck.

That would be a mistake.

The Knicks know that would be a mistake.

"All we've done," Kenyon Martin said, "is defend our home court. We've got a lot of work left to do."

That was the company line after Game 1, and remains so, and it's good that the Knicks feel that way, but there is something else, too: The Knicks now have the chance to do more than just win the series. They can take care of their business in a hurry. That option is there for them. You win Friday night, you can officially describe your lead as "commanding."

You win Friday night, you can strip whatever hopes still flicker among the diminished and diminishing Celtics. Maybe you close the series in four games, or five, get some rest before the next round. Let barking ligaments and screaming joints and achy muscles heal and recover.

The Celtics are vulnerable. Good teams put vulnerable ones out of their misery. Consider it another arc in the Knicks' playoff learning curve.

"Everyone is locking in," said Ray Felton, who had another terrific game — 16 points and seven rebounds and some frantic, frenetic pushing of the ball all night long. "We understand what we need to do."

And that is: Don't loiter. Don't dawdle. The Celtics are a stubborn team, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are proud playoff performers and Doc Rivers does have a full bag of tricks. But they are alone. Rajon Rondo's in civvies. Ray Allen's in Miami. The Knicks are not performing sorcery here. They were 12 1/2 games better than the Celtics across 82. They are the better team. They are the much better team.

Close them.

"Now we travel to Boston, to a hostile environment, to wonderful fans who know basketball, like our fans do," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "We've got to go in there and be solid. You need to play almost perfect basketball to win in the playoffs on the road. Get your rest now and figure out how we can be better on Friday."

They'll need to be. You know what's coming. They know what's coming. The legends will be lined up like duckpins everywhere, Hondo and Cooz and Cornbread, trying to roust the karmic caretakers from their slumber. It shouldn't matter. These Celtics are broken and wounded. They are vulnerable. They are begging to be swept.

So sweep them. Take care of your business, get a magic marker, scrawl your place in the second round as soon as possible. What we've seen so far in this series can be reduced to this: When the Knicks fully commit defensively the Celtics cannot — cannot — score. The offense remains more ragged than it's been, but that's what happens when the other guys ramp up their defense, too.

"We are who we are," Rivers said. "We can't apologize for that. That is who we have been left with and I think it's good enough to win. So far I haven't gotten them in the right spots. We can play better, have to play better."

That's the trick now. That's the chore. The C's legs are wobbly, their hearts teetering. You throw one more haymaker at them, they're fixing to fall. Throw that haymaker. Step on the accelerator. The Knicks will face the full historical wrath of the Celtics in two nights. It won't be easy to get this done.

If they're really as good as they believe they are, they'll get it done anyway.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

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Tip ins

Nearly everybody played well for the Knicks in the second half, but this is Carmelo Anthony's team and it was his third quarter. Anthony went 5-of-6 for 13 points in the third as the Knicks outscored the Celtics 32-11. He finished with 34.

Since pouring in 20 points in the first half of Game 1, Jeff Green has been invisible. The Celtics forward scored just six points in the second half that day and delivered a meager 10 points and one rebound last night.

The Knicks took command with a 24-4 run in the third quarter, a spurt initiated by Iman Shumpert. The swingman sank a pair of threes to open the second half, tying the game at 48. The Knicks trailed for only 18 seconds the rest of the way.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Carmelo Anthony

1-for-11 The Celtics' shooting start to the third quarter, after they shot a blistering 56 percent (19-for-34) in the first half. Boston finished the quarter a miserable 4-for-18.

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Nets sunk by Noah’s spark as Chicago evens 1st-round series

Joakim Noah can barely walk due to the case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. But it was the Nets who limped out of Barclays Center last night.

The Bulls All-Star center outworked the Nets at both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter, leading the Bulls to a 90-82 Game 2 victory over the Nets in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 and evening the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

"I was just trying to find a way," Noah said. "Just trying to find a way."

That's exactly what the Nets were unable to do, and after a dominant effort in virtually all phases of play in the opening game of the series Saturday night, the Nets gave away a golden opportunity to take control of the series on their home floor.

Reuters

NOT TWO BE: Brook Lopez (rear) and Deron Williams show their frustration during the Nets' Game 2.

"We said we needed to come out and play the same way, and play with the same desperation, but we didn't," said Deron Williams, who went 1-for-9 from the field and finished with eight points. "I think they did, and we didn't.

"We just have to try to go win one in Chicago. This series isn't over."

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

It's far from over, after the Nets ruined any chance they had of taking a 2-0 lead to Thursday night's Game 3 in the Windy City by shooting like they were playing outdoors in a hurricane. The Nets shot a dreadful 35.4 percent from the field, including 19 percent (4-for-21) from 3-point range, and committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 Bulls points.

Those shooting numbers included a dismal 2-for-19 performance in the third quarter, as the Nets saw themselves go from down one at halftime to down 12 heading into the fourth quarter, digging themselves a hole they were never able to recover from.

"We just didn't execute," interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "Their defense was very good, but our execution was not as good as it needs to be."

It certainly wasn't good enough from his backcourt, one the Nets have touted among the league's best since they put it together last summer. Williams finished with 10 assists, but never got his shot going after having his way with Chicago's defense in Game 1.

Joe Johnson, on the other hand, went 3-for-5 for seven points in the first quarter, then didn't score again until the fourth quarter, and finished with 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting. He missed a key 3-pointer with 3:45 remaining that would have cut Chicago's lead to one.

"We couldn't get over the hump," Johnson said, "and we weren't able to come up with the stops we needed."

But even once the Nets finally got themselves in gear after falling behind by 14 early in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-2 run to cut Chicago's lead to 73-68 on an Andray Blatche jumper with 7:45 remaining, they simply couldn't handle Noah, as he proceeded to make a series of plays that decided the game.

After forcing Blatche to miss a runner in the lane, Noah slipped through the Nets' defense at the other end to throw down a ferocious dunk to push the lead to seven.

On Chicago's next offensive possession, Noah somehow got his hands on an errant Carlos Boozer jump shot, and then found Nate Robinson for a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 78-68 and gave the Bulls enough of a cushion to hold off the Nets.

"I wasn't really thinking too much," Noah said. "I was just hooping, trying to make plays."

He made more than enough to beat the Nets last night, who gave up home court and now find themselves with a series on their hands.

tbontemps@nypost.com

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LSU’s Mingo fits Jets' need for big-time pass-rusher

The last time the Jets had a pass rusher with double-digit sacks in a season, Herm Edwards was still the head coach.

You have to go back to 2005 when John Abraham had 10 1/2 sacks to find a pass rushing force on the Jets. The team famous for the Sack Exchange in the 1980s desperately needs to find someone to make Tom Brady and other quarterbacks uncomfortable.

That could lead to LSU's Barkevious Mingo coming to the Jets on Thursday night with one of the team's first-round picks. No player has been associated with the Jets by draft experts more than Mingo over the last few months.

JETS 2013 SCHEDULE

With Darrelle Revis gone, Rex Ryan's defense needs a pass rusher more than ever. The 6-foot-4, 241-pound Mingo may be gone by the time the Jets are on the clock at No. 9, but if he is available the Jets might grab him.

Mingo is going to scare some Jets fans. He is small and had a fall-off in production last year. His sack total dropped from 8 in 2011 to 4 1/2 last year. The scars of Vernon Gholston in 2008 remain with the Jets' fan base, and there will be comparisons.

Mingo said the drop in production is because of how the Tigers played defense last year.

"I don't know about overall stats," Mingo said at the scouting combine in February. "I know I had more sacks [in 2011]. Like I said, we kind of contain rushed a lot of teams to not let them get outside the pocket. It kind of took away from what we wanted to do, but it helped the team and helped us win."

The questions about Mingo are not just about his production, but also his size. He is light to be a 3-4 outside linebacker. The Jets did not bring Mingo in for a predraft visit, but that could be a smoke screen to downplay their interest. Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar attended Mingo's pro day at LSU.

One fan of Mingo is former Raiders and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden.

"I love Barkevious Mingo at LSU," Gruden, now an ESPN analyst, said. "He's one of my favorite players in the draft. He could convert to the outside linebacker position and be an every-down force rushing the passer. I've seen him drop in coverage. He's got an electrifying inside move. I really think he's got a huge upside."

The Jets defense has lacked speed in recent years. Mingo would bring an explosive element the team has lacked.

"I think my speed separates me from every other guy in this draft. I'm a fast guy and I've got a quick first step and I like getting to the quarterback," Mingo said.

Mingo is known as "Keke" to his friends. His mother, Barbara, created his first name by taking the first three letters of her first name and adding them to the letters "kevious." He has a brother named Hughtavious after his father Hugh.

Jets fans won't care what his name is if he is sacking Brady this fall.

"With Rex, the pass rusher is necessary," ESPN Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. "Barkevious Mingo from LSU could still be there [at 9]. … They've got a ton of areas of need. You worry about filling needs, just take the best player. If you've got so many need areas, you can take the best player on the board and don't force anything.

"I think for the first-round pick, though, the pass rusher — if Mingo is there at 9, he's worthy of being the ninth pick overall."

brian.costello@nypost.com

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Revis says Idzik didn’t tell him truth ­­— even last week

TAMPA — The conversation took place last Wednesday.

Darrelle Revis was at the Jets' Florham Park, N.J., facility rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee when he bumped into new Jets general manager John Idzik.

This is how Revis recalled the conversation:

"Do you want to be a Jet?'' Idzik asked.

"Why would you ask me that question?'' Revis responded, adding he made it clear to Idzik he wanted to remain a Jet.

That is when, Revis told New York reporters yesterday shortly after he was introduced in a Tampa press conference as the newest member of the Buccaneers, Idzik assured him he wasn't going anywhere.

AP

PARTING SHOT: Darrelle Revis is all smiles as he sits with Bucs GM Mark Dominik and coach Greg Schiano at his introductory press conference. But later he said Jets GM John Idzik lied to him and owner Woody Johnson never talked with him. Post columnist Mark Cannizzaro writes the Revis saga didn't have to end in such an ugly fashion.

Four days after that conversation, Idzik traded Revis to Tampa Bay for the Buccaneers' 13th overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday, and a conditional 2014 fourth-rounder that could become a third-rounder.

So minutes after Revis smiled for the cameras and answered questions from Tampa-area reporters he was sitting in a quiet hallway with three familiar New York faces and he painted a picture of lies and deception he believes he was subjected to from the franchise he hoped to play the rest of his career with.

"I definitely feel like I haven't gotten the truth [from the Jets],'' Revis said. "Anyone can sit there and tell you to your face, 'Yeah, you're going to be a Jet.' But what's the truth out of it? It was more from Idzik. He told me I was going to be a Jet. He said it then when we first talked and he said it last week, too. I know it's a lie.

"They give you the corporate answer instead of the truth,'' he went on. "Just tell the truth, because people want to know what's going on. I want to know what's going on with my career, whether you're going to trade me or you're not. Whatever you're doing, just let me know.

"I just don't get that part of not telling me what you're going to do with me when I come to you and ask questions and say, 'Hey, what's going on?' ''

Sure, Revis and his agents, who had a contentious relationship with Jets management over the years, could be a pain in the Jets' butt with the holdouts and constant desire for a better contract.

But even if the Jets didn't believe he was worth the $16 million a year he desired (and got from the Bucs), Revis, always a gamer on the field and never a problem off of it, was owed the truth. That would not have cost Idzik and the Jets a dime.

Revis, who dodged questions about his recovery from a torn ACL though the Bucs made it clear they expect him ready for their opener against the Jets at MetLife Stadium, said he felt deceived since the moment Idzik was hired and the rumors of the Jets' desire to trade him began to surface.

"I wake up one day in January going to rehab and I hear I'm getting traded and nobody even called me,'' he said. "I'm supposed to be the best player on the team and all of a sudden they're letting me go.''

Asked if he has spoken to team owner Woody Johnson, who it has been widely reported had no intention of paying Revis the big money he was seeking, Revis said, "Noooo. Woody don't want to talk to me, man. Let's just be real, man. Woody don't want to talk to me. He stayed as far away as he could.''

Revis also insisted the Jets never made any effort to sign him to a new long-term contract to keep him, even indicating that he would have been willing to take the same non-guaranteed deal he signed with Tampa Bay.

"The Jets never contacted my agents about a long-term deal or even a short-term deal,'' he said. "They never even approached us, so that's that. The truth is the truth.''

That the Jets never made an effort to negotiate with Revis' agents is as preposterous as it is bad business. At least make an effort to keep your best player — even if you know it's likely futile. Idzik did not return calls to comment on Revis' claims.

"It's over now,'' Revis said. "They knew I wanted to be there and obviously I'm somewhere different. This is a new chapter in my life. This is my new home, man. I'm in Tampa now. I'm a Buccaneer.''

Revis was willing to look at what he left behind, including his biggest supporter in Rex Ryan.

"As a friend, yeah, I feel for Rex," he said. "Rex played a big part in my career, and yeah I feel for him. I feel for him — not just because of my situation, but a lot of the things that have happened in the offseason. It's a whole new team up there."

There was a hint of melancholy to Revis' voice, because he wanted to remain in New York.

But there he was yesterday, dressed in a grey suit with a shiny Tampa Bay Buccaneers pin attached to the left lapel of his jacket, sitting in front of a bright red and pewter banner.

It just didn't look right. So much for being "a Jet for life.''

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com

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Yankees on deck at Rays

TONIGHT — 7:10, WWOR

RHP Phil Hughes

(0-2, 6.43) vs.

LHP David Price

(0-1, 6.26)

TOMORROW — 7:10, YES

LHP Andy Pettitte

(3-0, 2.01) vs.

RHP Alex Cobb

(2-1, 2.53)

Both games on

WCBS (880 AM)

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

YANKEES: Hughes did not factor in the decision in his last outing Thursday against the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings. In 14 appearances (seven starts) against the Rays, the right-hander is 4-4 with a 3.99 ERA.

RAYS: The 2012 Cy Young Award-winner is still seeking his first victory of the season. In his last start, Price allowed five runs on six hits over six innings while striking out six. In 19 career appearances (18 starts) against the Yankees, Price is 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA.

STAT SO?

YANKEES: The Yankees had 10 extra-base hits in Friday's win at Toronto and 11 in their April 9 win at Cleveland. The two games with 10-or-more extra-base hits marks just the fourth time since 1963 that the Yankees had two or more such games in a single season.

RAYS: Joe Maddon's ejection on April 17 at Baltimore marked the first time he was tossed from a game this season and the 28th time in his eight seasons with the Rays, extending his club record.

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Mets on deck vs. Dodgers

TONIGHT — 7:10

LHP Jon Niese

(2-1, 3.80) vs.

LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-2, 1.88)

TOMORROW — 7:10

RHP Matt Harvey

(4-0, 0.93) vs.

LHP Ted Lilly

(season debut)

THURSDAY — 1:10

RHP Jeremy Hefner (0-2, 7.07) vs.

LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

(2-1, 4.01)

All games on SNY, WFAN (660 AM, 101.9 FM)

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

METS: Niese's past two middling starts (1-1 record, 11 innings, 14 hits, seven earned runs, five walks, four strikeouts) may be taken with a grain of salt or flake of snow — game-time temperatures in Minnesota and Denver were 34 and 28 degrees, respectively. In four starts, the 26-year old is getting twice as many outs on the ground as in the air.

DODGERS: Kershaw, the 2011 NL Cy Young winner and 2012 runner-up, turned in a rare shoddy start last week, allowing three home runs and four walks to the Padres in a 51/3-inning stint at Chavez Ravine. Through his first three starts, the southpaw had a 1.16 ERA and .156 opponents average.

STAT SO?

METS: Lucas Duda is walking in 24.6 percent of plate appearances, second in the majors behind the Reds' Joey Votto.

DODGERS: Left fielder Carl Crawford is the active leader in career triples with 115, four ahead of ex-Met Jose Reyes.

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With Darrelle Hell over, Rex now in purgatory

Steve Serby

AP

With Darrelle Revis gone, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan faces a difficult task for 2013.

You're next, Rex.

You'll be Rexiled next.

It is clear now Rex Ryan doesn't have Woody Johnson's ear anymore, because he will now be coaching for his job in 2013 without Darrelle Revis, who is taking his talents to Tampa for a high-risk six-year, $96 million deal but nary a red cent of it guaranteed.

It's a "deal of historic proportions," according to GM John Idzik, Johnson's new consigliere.

A franchise-altering deal that will lead this tortured franchise in a new direction.

With a new head coach.

Ryan's parting gift is the 13th pick of Thursday night's NFL Draft — and nothing else, because the conditional 2014 fourth-rounder that could become a third-rounder will belong to someone else.

Of course Johnson and Idzik didn't get enough for Revis, only got what they could in the absence of a gold rush for a shutdown corner who was shut down last season by a torn ACL.

"It definitely muddies the water a little bit," Idzik conceded.

It is a victory only in that it is better than getting nothing at all at the end of the 2013 season when Revis could have taken his talents to the Patriots or Giants, or anyone else.

Only the Jets could find themselves trying to untangle themselves from such a Buttfumbled mess.

This much is obvious: This is no longer Rex's team. The party is over for him.

It is Idzik's team.

Ryan will never admit it publicly, but he has officially met his Waterloo, and assuming he remains gung-ho on collecting his $3 million salary in 2013 for being the fall guy, assuming he is not the type to fax in his resignation, then by the time the season ends, he will be smaller than Napoleon in and around the NFL.

Mark Sanchez was put in a position to fail in 2012, left alone on Sanchez Island with Tim Tebow, and Ryan has now been put in a position to fail in 2013. He is a lame-duck coach coaching a lame team, and he better duck.

Call the movie Rex, Lies and Videotape.

What did Rex know, and when did he know it? If he knew anything?

Because either Rex lied to us, and to Revis, when he repeatedly denied the Revis trade rumors, or Johnson and Idzik lied to him that the organization had absolutely no desire to show him the money.

Because it sure looks now that Rex sold Revis down the river.

"I was involved in the entire process," Rex said last night.

Oh really?

"I never had one conversation with any other team, any other coach, any GM directly," Rex said. "Absolutely had zero contact with anybody."

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Nets’ Wallace shows signs of playoff breakout

The Nets expect to get scoring from Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez on a nightly basis. But if Gerald Wallace can continue to give them anywhere near the production he did in their comfortable victory over the Bulls in Game 1 Saturday night in Brooklyn, what was expected to be a long and competitive first-round series could quickly become a short one.

Wallace, mired in a brutal slump over the past several weeks, went 5-for-7 from the field and finished with 14 points to reach double figures for the first time since scoring 12 in Portland in late March.

Paul J. Bereswill

OFF AND RUNNING? Nets forward Gerald Wallace gathers a steal from the Bulls' Rip Hamilton during Saturday's Game 1 playoff win, when Wallace's 14 points sparked hope he might snap out of a second-half slump.

"I'm [feeling] pretty good," Wallace said. "It's a fresh start, a new season. ... The playoffs are totally different."

Wallace looked like a totally different player Saturday than the one who had been shooting 33.5 percent from the field and 13.5 percent from 3-point range since the All-Star break. The Nets hope to see that Wallace again when the teams reconvene at Barclays Center for Game 2 tonight.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS

Because of Wallace's struggles, the Bulls often had Kirk Hinrich, their starting point guard, matched up on him defensively, allowing Chicago to put its long, athletic wings — Jimmy Butler and Luol Deng — on Williams and Johnson. But instead of being passive offensively, as Wallace often has been of late during his shooting struggles, he took advantage of the matchup at every opportunity, using his size and quickness to attack the paint to get layups or to the foul line, where he went 3-for-5.

"My main thing was to try to be more aggressive and put pressure on their defense, force them into situations where they have to guard," Wallace said. "They probably didn't see that in the first four games that we played, so it's probably something new to them and forced them to do something they didn't want to do defensively."

It also helped Wallace that the Nets were able to get out in transition and get easy baskets. Wallace picked up a pair of them that way — one when he stole the ball from Richard Hamilton and another when Williams hit him with a beautiful pass to set up a gliding layup.

"That's what we talked about," Williams said of getting out in transition more. "It suits me, it suits [Wallace], it suits a lot of our guys. I can get him more involved. We have to get up and down and not let them get set up, get out in transition where he can be active."

Wallace's work against Deng on the defensive end was just as important. Wallace was defending Deng on 10 of his 11 shot attempts Saturday, according to mysynergysports.com, and held Deng to six points on 3-for-10 shooting.

"He could've had zero [points] last night and he still would've been a major contributor in the game," interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "He's going to play big minutes.

"We're not going to win without Gerald Wallace playing big minutes, regardless of what his [stat] line is."

tbontemps@nypost.com

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WATCH: TV anchor drops F-bomb in debut

KFYR video still

A.J. Clemente had a rough start to his first anchoring gig at KFYR in Bismarck, North Dakota.

The first rule in TV newscasts – don't curse when you're in front of the camera.

You never know when your microphone might be open.

You never know when you might become the next YouTube sensation, the way A.J. Clemente did Sunday. Clemente was leading off his first newscast as the weekend anchor at KFYR, an NBC station in Bismarck, North Dakota, when he let loose.

"F-----g s--t," he said into his microphone, fifteen seconds into his first anchoring gig.

Fifteen seconds!

The nerves got to him.

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

After Clemente opened his mouth, co-anchor Van Tieu continued with the newscast, introducing her news partner.

"You may have seen our newest reporter A.J. on North Dakota News, and he'll be joining the weekend news team as my co-anchor," she said.

Um … about that …

Clemente stumbled through his introduction – he's excited, a West Virginia University grad, from the east coast – and the ill-fated newscast continued with a story about an ATV crash.

The excitement faded by the close of the show, when Clemente Tweeted, "That couldn't have gone any worse!"

Probably not – the budding anchor was suspended following the newscast. News Director Monica Hannan later posted a statement online, writing "We can't take back what was said … all we can do at this point is ask for your forgiveness."

Tieu also apologized during the station's 10 p.m. newscast.

Clemente isn't alone in the verbal flub category. Local TV anchors Sue Simmons and Ernie Anastos have both famously dropped F-bombs during live broadcasts – but those missteps followed decades of built-up respect and trust.

This was Clemente's first time anchoring – and maybe his last – and oh, what a notorious debut.

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Police: 5 dead in shooting south of Seattle

AP

A Washington State Patrol trooper directs a driver away from the scene of a shooting that police said left five people dead.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Gunfire erupted at an apartment complex in a city south of Seattle and five people were shot to death, including a suspect who was shot by arriving officers, police said early Monday.

Officers responding to an emergency call at 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the apartments in Federal Way found two injured men on the ground in a parking lot.

"When we arrived, there was a lot of gunfire already being fired and multiple calls, 911 calls of gunfire," said Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock. One of the men reached for a gun as police moved in to assist the two, she said.

At that point, other officers opened fire. The suspect died but police said it wasn't immediately clear if it was from their gunfire.

The other man one the ground and a third man in the parking lot were found dead.

In a search of the complex, police found a fourth man dead in one apartment and a slain woman in another unit.

Schrock said police were trying to determine if the woman was accidentally hit by gunfire.

There was no immediate word what set off the shooting.

"We're gonna continue to go door to door in hopes that we can find some additional witnesses, and hopefully we won't be finding any more victims." Schrock said.

After police flooded the scene and carried out searches of the area, authorities said they did not think another shooter was on the loose or that there was an immediate threat to the public.

There were no reports of any officers being injured, and the names of the five people who were killed were not immediately available.

Federal Way is about 20 miles south of Seattle.

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Shopping spree's cut short

Don't they know who she is? Apparently not!

As Coachella headed into its second weekend — with bands including Blur and a Stone Roses reunion — notorious party animal Tara Reid was seen demanding a discount at an LA store while picking out an outfit for the massive music fest, then getting thrown out.

The "American Pie" star was seen shopping at edgy Brit brand All Saints last week when she was overheard berating employees for refusing to give her a discount because of her "fame," and then was booted, spies said.

"She was screaming," said a source. "She had to be escorted out by security. She seemed drunk."

FilmMagic

Tara Reid

The trouble began when Reid — star of upcoming TV movie "Sharknado" with Ian Ziering—arrived at the Robertson Boulevard store where, a spy said, "She said she needed an outfit for Coachella." But, the spy added, she "demanded a discount." When the store declined, Reid insisted she deserved the break "because of her fame," a spy said. She then "began to scream at them and was escorted out."

A rep for Reid told us that she was with her C-list client during the incident, and that we're just not on "Team Tara."

"Tara gets a huge discount with All Saints in the UK and Paris because she's a walking billboard for them," the rep snapped. "She gets photographed . . . so they give her huge hookups. We told them we get a discount, and they said they'd email the press team."

The rep added Reid was in a dressing room when a salesperson then came in to tell her she'd been denied. "Tara didn't think it made sense and asked them to check again," the rep said.

The store offered to hold Reid's items for her, according to the rep, and Tara left empty-handed, on her own steam.

As far as Reid's state in the store: "She was definitely not drunk. People love to say Tara's hammered and this and that . . . whoever is saying that is not on Team Tara," the rep said.

All Saints declined to comment.

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Reggie shirt off base in pinstripe auction

Reggie Jackson gave the shirt off his back — but it was the wrong one.

An auction house yanked a jersey that the legendary Mr. October claimed to have worn during his historic three-home run game during the 1977 World Series after an eagle-eyed expert discovered it was the wrong shirt.

The retired Yankee great claimed he kept the jersey for 35 years believing it was the one he sported on the field during Game 6. But a video showed the "pinstripe alignment" was off, California-based SCP Auctions said.

"Video footage of the game shows some subtle inconsistencies between this jersey and the one he wore on the field," said the auction house, which expected to fetch $100,000 for the game-worn jersey this week.

Focus on Sport/Getty Images

TELL-TAILOR: No one bid on a Reggie Jackson jersey (bottom) that he touted as the one he wore during his three-homer game in the 1977 Series. It likely wasn't, as the striping configuration differs from the one Reggie was wearing at that game (above).

Jackson claimed to be shocked about the mishap. "For 35 years, that jersey has been in a frame. It doesn't make sense," he said.

He added he still questions about whether it really is the game jersey.

Jackson says he lost most of his sports gear from the era in a house fire and is sad to see the jersey's authenticity challenged.

"It broke my heart," he said.

Proceeds from the sale were to go to Jackson's family and his charity, the Mr. October Foundation for Kids.

The sports hero may have worn the jersey in the clubhouse after the game, but it was not the one worn on the field, memorabilia experts said.

Peter Nash, who runs the blog Hauls of Shame, said he and a partner discovered the jersey wasn't authentic and tipped off the auction house.

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Mets town

They're the kings of Queens.

Blue-collar Mets stars have forsaken Yankee-style Manhattan condos to pitch their tents in two rental buildings on the Long Island City waterfront — a 20-minute drive or quick No. 7 train jaunt to Citi Field.

Neighborhood sources said the young players, along with manager Terry Collins, are concentrated in a shimmering 39-story building along the East River, where rents range from $2,200 to $6,000 a month, and a 32-story sister skyscraper two blocks away.

"We all live in Long Island City together, we all live in the same apartment building — so it's nice for the wives to be able to lean on each other," said Leah Niese (left), wife of the team's lefty ace Jon Niese.

Getty Images

HOME TEAM: Many Mets players and families live in this LIC building and its sister high-rise, including David Wright's fiancée, Molly Beers (above, with Wright).

J.C. Rice

The blond stunner told The Post her posse includes KariAnn Gee, pitcher Dillon Gee's wife; Megan Parnell, reliever Bobby Parnell's better half; Tori Murphy, Daniel Murphy's wife; Karen Francisco, pitcher Frank Francisco's wife; Diana Baxter, right fielder Mike Baxter's spouse; and Molly Beers, the model fiancée of superstar David Wright.

"When the guys go for a long road trip, we can stay with each other, and we're right there if we ever need anything," she said.

Building sources told The Post that players who have recently moved into Avalon's Riverview North include left fielder Jordany Valdespin, catcher John Buck, second baseman Justin Turner, along with a slew of rookies.

"They're cool — they talk to us when they see us," said one Avalon worker. "They're just settling in now . . . They come every year, just for the season."

Amenities include a ninth-floor pool, a rooftop garden with barbecue grills, a 24-hour concierge, a gym and even a doorman who sources said also moonlights as an usher at Citi Field.

The other high-rise, the Avalon Riverview — where rents range from $2,300 to $5,200 — is similarly outfitted, and counts Wright as a onetime resident, sources said.

Still, Metsville is a far cry from the white-shoe digs of their hated crosstown rivals, like Derek Jeter, who sold his Trump World Tower penthouse for $15.5 million, and Alex Rodriguez, who lives in The Aldyn, an Upper West Side rental where monthly rents can cost as much as a new car — $18,900.

Players kick back at bistros along tony Center Boulevard. "Shi and Skinny's are the best," gushed Leah Niese.

"Being in Long Island City is a lot easier because we're not in Manhattan so it's not crazy, but at the same time, we still have the city life one subway stop away," she added.

To keep looking great, the gals — and Collins — go to Emily Salon and Spa, where manicures run $15, a leg wax is $50, and a men's haircut starts at $30.

"The guy with the gray hair — the manager — he just came back," a hairstylist at the shop said. "He's a good customer!"

Residents say LIC has become an Amazin' enclave.

"There aren't too many areas of Queens where celebrities are living," said Andrew Kleinberg, a portfolio manager and neighborhood blogger. "It adds cachet, and that's hard to get here."

Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan and Jennifer Gould Keil

gbuiso@nypost.com

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Sneak peek at Alec’s new tot

Hold the pickles.

A pregnant Hilaria Thomas, 28, who is expecting her first child — a baby girl — with former "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin is tickled pink she hasn't been having any oddball food cravings.

"I don't have cravings. I'm waiting to crave pickles and ice cream, but it's not happening," the yoga instructor and "Extra" correspondent told Us Weekly. "I'm a growing person, so I figure if I'm chowing down on the ice cream and donuts, that's probably not the best thing for her to eat, either."

In February, the couple revealed they were going to have a baby, and later announced it would be a girl.

Getty Images

Thomas was happy to show off her baby bump and to attend the premiere of her hubby's Broadway appearance in "Orphans" on Thursday.

Meanwhile, The Post managed to get an exclusive look at the forthcoming Baldwin baby girl. Aww, what a cute little bundle of rage!

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Serby's Sunday Q & A with... The voice of YES Singleton, flaherty, leiter and kay

The YES Network Yankees broadcast team of Al Leiter, Ken Singleton, John Flaherty and Michael Kay sat down with Post columnist Steve Serby at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse for some Q&A.

Q: What's your favorite Mariano Rivera anecdote?

Kay: I think the first game that he came up, he was a starting pitcher against the White Sox, and the White Sox had a scouting report that he didn't throw hard, threw a lot of breaking stuff, and don't worry about his fastball. And I think he pitched eight innings, and he was throwing 96, 97 miles an hour. And I remember the White Sock players were screaming at the manager and the scouts: "What kind of scouting report was this?"

Anthony J Causi

Ken Singleton, John Flaherty, Al Leiter and Michael Kay.

Q: If the 2000 Mets had Mariano, how do you think the Subway Series would have turned out?

Leiter: Forget about the 2000 Mets, how about every other team that's ever played, or been in postseason?

Q: Was it a helpless feeling on the other side watching him come in to close a game?

Leiter: The psychological advantage ... to where you just feel like you're defeated already, especially in his prime.

Q: What was it like catching him?

Flaherty: To Al's point, playing against the Yankees when you had Mariano at the end of the game, you always knew he was there, and it was always in your mind that you gotta get on the board early and try to play with a lead. It put so much pressure on your lineup. It's almost like a catcher always knowing where the No. 4 guy in the lineup is. And then, on the flip side, catching him, it was as easy as could be. He would lull you to sleep with his delivery. He would put the ball exactly where you want it. And to call a game, all you'd have to do was, "Is it a cutter away or a cutter in or a sinker in?" It was pretty simple. Maybe elevate. But It was as simple of a guy you could ever want to catch because he's so perfect.

Q: How about hitting against him?

Flaherty: We didn't know a whole lot about him, and I went out to the on-deck circle at the old Yankee Stadium and I'm watching him warm up, and I'm thinking, "This guy's built right in for me." It's all fastballs, it doesn't look overpowering, it looks like it's nice and easy, and I thought, "All right, this is what I'm gonna make my living on." And the first fastball just exploded on me, and I remember the thought like, "What the hell was that?" I struck out on a couple of pitches. He threw me a slider one year and I hit a double and drove in Fred McGriff ,and he told me he's never thrown a slider after that ever again. That was in July of I forget what year. He didn't give up another run the rest of the year into the postseason.

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