Allan Houston feels he’s about ready to bust out. With an arduous schedule ahead that began last night in Charlotte, continues against the Lakers tomorrow at home and Tuesday in Indy, the Knicks could use Houston to take over a game.

“I feel great, probably the best I’ve felt all year,” Houston said of his physical condition. “A couple of weeks after the All-Star Break, I was tired, but my body got back and I feel great.”

Regarding the ankle that he injured in Charlotte back on Feb. 7, Houston said, “I feel it, but it’s not a big deal. It’s an ankle. It’s not a knee.”

Added Houston, “One thing I always know about myself, I’ll be there when the team needs me to be there.”

So how do you explain Houston’s dip in production. He is averaging 17.6 points on 44.7 percent shooting in the 16 games since the All-Star break that was no break at all for him. Houston, averaging 20.1 for the season on 48-percent shooting, played in his first All-Star game in Oakland Feb. 14 but maintaining his All-Star form hasn’t been as easy.

“He’s not shooting the ball well and he’s not getting his shots,” Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “I just think he’s a little bit out of sync offensively. I think it affects other parts of his game. He knows we need him back to being a very good, very consistent player.”

Knick assistant coach Don Chaney said he thinks Houston’s troubles are more “mental.”

“If [Latrell] Sprewell wasn’t playing so well, maybe Allan would be more fired up to get going,” Chaney said. “Anytime a shooter isn’t shooting well it’s 70-percent mental.”

Sprewell, meanwhile, has been on a rampage, leading the team in scoring seven of the last eight games.

Chaney views the mid-February to mid-March stretch as the dog days. Teams are not yet over the hump and gearing for the playoffs. Chaney says usually the highest-energy players like Sprewell get through that muddy patch the best.

“He’s playing at a different level,” Chaney said. “He’s being smarter by really getting to the basket and attacking and he’s finding out not too many people can guard him off the dribble. He’s not settling for the jumper.”

Earlier this week, Van Gundy became concerned over a remark Houston that appeared in the papers about the Knicks not having the “seriousness” before Tuesday’s Houston game as they did before San Antonio and Philly.

What puzzled Van Gundy was not just the team’s blase attitude but that one of their tri-captains, Houston, sensed it and didn’t do anything about it.

“It’s up to them, if they notice a lack of focus or seriousness, to bring it up and help their teammates get ready, not wait until after the game,” Van Gundy said. “You need to address it right then. We have guys on our team who float in and out of focus a lot more than a lot of upper-level teams. That’s what’s preventing us from being an upper-level team – injuries and fluctuating focus.”

The Hornets give the Knicks’ major matchup problems, so the Knicks needed to bring last night the hellbent attitude they brought into the Philly game last Friday. The Knicks, who had lost eight of nine road games, beat Philly in a gritty affair at First Union Center that still has Van Gundy raving about their toughness that evening.

“When we got hit in that game, we didn’t lay down on the ground and roll over,” Van Gundy said. “We got right back up and hit again. We were much stronger that game. For whatever reason, in our core group, we’re too up and down.”

The matchup nightmare occurs because Anthony Mason is playing a point forward role, which is what ex-Knick coach Don Nelson envisioned for the burly Queens native. Mason, who is technically still playing the three(small forward), has to be defended by either Sprewell or Houston and the Knicks give up a lot of beef in that one-on-one.

“He has to guard me, too,” Houston said of a matchup with Mason. “My strength is offense.”

Guard Eddie Jones, meanwhile, handled both Spree and Houston easily n the last meeting, going for 34 points. And then there’s power forward Derrick Coleman, who killed the Knicks from 3-point land in the last meeting Feb. 7. The resurgent Coleman, who will be guarded by Larry Johnson, is showing the dangerous inside-outside game the Nets wished he displayed more frequently last millenium.

“He’s playing as well as anybody in the league,” Van Gundy said. “I’m not sure you can do a whole lot with him except hope he has one of his off nights. Because of their size advantage, we have to guard well.”

But the Knicks didn’t have either Marcus Camby, LJ or even Chris Childs in the prior meeting. Although the Knicks were going to start small with a point guard, they had the option of going big last night and have LJ take on Mason. “With more bodies, we have more flexibility,” Van Gundy said.

Sprewell has heard enough talk about the Knicks not matching up well against certain teams such as Charlotte and Toronto.

“I think we match up with anybody,” Sprewell said. “We have size, quickness. If we want to play smaller we can. We can play bigger. We can do a lot of different things. We’re a real versatile team. We can match up against anybody.”