Still standing: Your guide to the ‘American Idol’ finalists

And then there were 11.

With "Empire" over for the season, "American Idol" expands to two hours Wednesday night and features an '80s theme — complete with Boy George mentoring the Top 11 finalists and performing his hit Culture Club song "Karma Chameleon."

"Idol" is averaging 11.6 million viewers — but that number may grow as the field winnows down in the coming weeks.

Here's a look at the singers left standing, with odds provided by goldderby.com.

Tyanna Jones, 16 (2-7)

Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.

Rabid Prince fan Jones has distinguished herself with powerful vocals and high-energy performances.

Clark Beckham, 22 (13-8)

Hometown: White House, Tenn.

This street performer brings his strength in music theory and instrument ability — like his idols John Mayer and Stevie Wonder — to the competition with soulful vocals and arrangements.

Jax, 18 (11-2)

Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ

A pop musician with a theater background, this Jersey girl counts Janis Joplin, Barbra Streisand and her dad — a retired New York City firefighter injured on 9/11 — as her biggest inspirations.

Rayvon Owen, 23 (13-2)

Hometown: Richmond, Va.

This singer/vocal coach has no problem hitting the high notes (just like his musical idol, Whitney Houston) or falsettos.

Joey Cook, 23 (9-1)

Hometown: Woodbridge, Va.

Cook's has a quirky style (blue hair and a penchant for obscure instruments like the ukulele and accordion) has extended to her stage presence, often closing her eyes and getting lost in the music.

Nick Fradiani, 29 (14-1)

Hometown: Guilford, Conn.

This musician was not always comfortable onstage without his guitar, but he's gotten better at ditching it for stripped-down performances.

Qaasim Middleton, 19 (16-1)

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

The judges used their one save of the season to spare Middleton last week after he performed a characteristically frenetic version of "Come Together" by The Beatles.

Maddie Walker, 17 (20-1)

Hometown: Ankeny, Iowa

As the only remaining country-focused singer, Walker is looking to follow in the footsteps of her career role model — former "Idol" winner Carrie Underwood.

Quentin Alexander, 21 (20-1)

Hometown: New Orleans, La.

Alexander grew up in the city's Ninth Ward and the Big Easy's heritage comes through in his unique outfits and funky musical style.

Adanna Duru, 18 (25-1)

Hometown: Diamond Bar, Calif.

The pop/R&B songstress landed the last spot in the Top 12 — though she quickly proved she belonged to be there with a rousing performance of Jennifer Hudson's "Love You I Do."

Daniel Seavey, 15 (25-1)

Hometown: Vancouver, Wash.

He's the youngest finalist, but has the voice of a musical veteran — and plays guitar and piano to boot.

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Despite controlling play, Islanders fall to Wild in shootout

Former Devil Zach Parise scored the tying goal midway through the third period, then added another in the shootout to help the Wild beat the Islanders 2-1 Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum for their 10th straight road win.

Parise's shootout try hit the post to the right of Jaroslav Halak and trickled in after it bounced off the goalie's leg.

John Tavares broke a scoreless tie late in the second period when he jammed his team-best 34th goal of the season past Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk at 19:36. Kyle Okposo and Anders Lee assisted. The point was the 300th of Okposo's career.

Tavares, who hadn't scored in five games, is trying to beat out Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead in points. Tavares also has 40 assists.

Tavares, Okposo and Frans Nielsen all failed to convert in the shootout for the Islanders. Dubnyk made 37 saves in his 32nd straight start for the Wild.

Parise tied the game at 11:45 of the third with his 29th goal. Jason Pominville and Mikko Koivu had the assists.

The Islanders (44-25-9) had the better of play for most the game, outshooting the Wild 16-5 in the first period and finishing with a 38-32 advantage. Nevertheless, Minnseota improved to 42-25-7.

Halak, who had 31 saves, was strong again after he shut out the Devils on Saturday to end a four-game losing streak for the Islanders. He denied Pominville with a sliding stop midway through the second and stopped former Islander Thomas Vanek on a breakaway early in overtime.

Before the game, the Islanders honored Hall of Famer center Pat Lafontaine, who scored 287 goals for the team from 1984-91.

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This mega market is the Eataly of French food

The Financial District isn't a neighborhood typically associated with European charms, but that's changing next week. On Monday, Le District — a 30,000-square-foot French marketplace — is opening within Brookfield Place, bringing a bit of Paris in springtime to 225 Liberty St.

With a central wine bar, a half-dozen gourmet food stations offering everything from French cheeses to freshly baked baguettes and brioches, three restaurants, a patisserie, a candy store and more, the massive, modern space is a Chablis-soaked dream for Francophiles.

It's an homage to "the fundamentals of cooking and France," says owner Peter Poulakakos, whose HPH restaurant group also manages Financier Patisserie, among others.

Consider it the French version of Eataly. Here, you'll find both raw ingredients and prepared foods from France, as well as a variety of seating areas. But unlike Eataly's wandering layout, Le District has a clear central hub — a large oval-shaped wine bar — and four separate zones.

Photo: Photographer: Zandy Mangold, Model: Marrow/MSA Models, Hair & Makeup: T. Cooper for Gorgeous Cosmetics

Enter from the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place and you'll first encounter the Cafe District. It features a massive patisserie, an espresso bar and a dazzlingly colorful French candy store run by Parisian shop La Cure Gourmande.

That leads to the main area known as the Market District, which is anchored by the wine bar and boasts a variety of gourmet stations — a fromagerie (cheese shop), rotisserie, charcuterie, boucherie (butcher) and poissonnerie (fishmonger) — each with its own seating area. A boulangerie will have 16 different breads on offer.

Customers will be able to buy raw ingredients or prepared foods to take home or eat on the spot. Need a no-fuss dinner? At the rotisserie, you can grab a whole roast chicken on the go. How about a quick lunch? Tuck into a honey-and-lavender-roasted turkey breast sandwich at a counter seat.

For more formal dining, the Restaurant District will have three options: Le Bar, brasserie Beaubourg and a fine dining restaurant, opening later in the spring, called L'Appart. Seven-thousand square feet of outdoor space, with seating for 250 and views of the Hudson River, is set to open in May.

Lastly, the Garden District will sell grocery staples, fresh produce and deli items. Best of all, a salad bar will transform into a chocolate-mousse bar at 4 p.m. each day.

"It's going to be an awesome spot," enthuses Poulakakos.

Market District

"It's the pulse of the whole entire place," Poulakakos says of Le District's central hub, which features a half-dozen gourmet stations surrounding a wine bar.

Shoppers can nibble their way around the stations — 70 seats are sprinkled throughout at counters and high-top tables — or grab food to go.

"It's lots of little tastings," Poulakakos says of the format.

Open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

More than a dozen different imported mustards and other gourmet condiments line the Market District's walls. Also, the rotisserie will have whole chickens to take home and gourmet sandwiches to eat on the spot.Photo: Photographer: Zandy Mangold, Model: Marrow/MSA Models, Hair & Makeup: T. Cooper for Gorgeous Cosmetics

Steak frites: Order up some meat and potatoes — or have them throw anything in the butcher's case on the grill for you — at the boucherie.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Bread basket: The boulangerie boasts a rotating selection of 16 different loaves, including baguettes baked daily.
Photo: Getty

Say cheese: A fromagerie sells French cheese plates (above) and fondue "to go" with freshly made croutons.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Beautiful blooms: There's even a florist selling bouquets to decorate your table.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Cured meats: Put together a plate of salami, ham and pâté at the charcuterie.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Fresh fish: A poissonnerie will offer the catch of the day to take home and oysters to enjoy at the counter.Photo: Getty Creative

Très cher specialties: A $70 can of black truffles is among the delicacies on the market's shelves.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Restaurant District

Three eateries comprise this district. Poulakakos calls Beaubourg, a 100-seat brasserie, "the core restaurant of the market." It will serve classics like a croque-monsieur and frog legs in a room outfitted with light-blue leather banquettes and white-tile walls.

The bright decor is in stark contrast to the dark woods and copper canopy at Le Bar, where drinkers (and diners) can enjoy Belgian beers, craft cocktails, wine and oysters.

In May, a 28-seat fine dining restaurant called L'Appart will open, serving four- to six-course tasting menus. The name means "the apartment," and the room's eclectic midcentury-style furnishings give the suggestion that you're dining in the chef's living room.

"It's very fun," says Poulakakos.

Le Bar is open Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Beaubourg is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Bistro fare: The salade Beaubourg features smoked duck and chèvre over mesclun greens.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Bon appétit: Chefs Nicolas Abello (from left), Jordi Vallès and Fabrice Renaudin will be whipping up delicious Gallic classics in the three restaurants.
Photo: Zandy Mangold

Garden District

This grocery-shopping area offers fresh produce, dairy and frozen items.

In addition to pantry staples, 32 different prepared foods — from couscous to haricots verts almondine — will be available, quaintly scooped from Staub casserole dishes behind a deli counter.

"[This] section is very typical of a French market," says Poulakakos.

Open Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

From dawn to dusk: Early in the day, there's a healthy salad bar to get your greens, but at 4 p.m. it turns into a decadent chocolate-mousse bar with toppings like orange confit.Photo: Getty Images

Cafe District

It's a sugar rush in the front area of Le District. Head to the right as you enter from the Winter Garden and you'll hit La Cure Gourmande, the first US outpost of the colorful French candy store that hawks whimsically packaged nougat, buttery biscuits and chocolates made to look like olives.

"We visited their shop in Paris, and we loved the energy of the store," says Poulakakos.

Across the way, a massive patisserie offers a rainbow assortment of pastries. Chef Jordi Vallès, the executive culinary director for the entire project, is a native of Belgium and insisted his homeland's traditional thick, chewy waffles be on offer. But he says he doesn't have any favorites on the menu. "We're very excited about everything."

Open Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Candy! Parisian sweets purveyor La Cure Gourmande created a beautiful tin (above) just for its New York location.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Waffles and crêpes made to order: Belgian waffles (right) come plain or topped with sauces and whipped cream, and crêpes (left) can be filled with everything from Nutella to ham and cheese.Photo: Zandy Mangold

Coffee! Grab an espresso at the coffee bar to go with all your tasty sweet treats.
Photo: Getty Images

Pastries! Feast on macarons, éclairs, cakes and cookies — all made with imported French butter — at the patisserie.Photo: Zandy Mangold

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A press agent’s adventures in David Merrick-land, camels included

If you happened to be walking through Times Square one spring day in 1978, you might have been surprised to see Eartha Kitt parading down Broadway on the back of a camel.

It was a stunt designed to generate publicity for "Timbuktu," a mediocre musical she was starring in — and it worked. The next day, all newspapers ran a photo of Kitt on her camel.

The maestro behind the stunt was Josh Ellis, a junior executive at Solters & Roskin, Broadway's leading press agent at the time. Ellis went on to handle press for some of the biggest hits of the 1980s — "42nd Street," "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music," "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," "Big River" and "Fences."

He pulled off all sorts of stunts, managed egos and learned the art of spin from the master — legendary producer David Merrick.

From those experiences, Ellis has fashioned a one-man show, "Call My Publicist! The Starry Education of a Broadway Press Agent." Directed by Gretchen Cryer, it will play the York Theatre April 8 as part of a series of readings of new works.

Ellis plays himself.

I always wanted to be a theater critic, a theater press agent or a Broadway star … I chose to be a press agent. But when you get a subscription to Variety for your bar mitzvah, you pretty much know the arrow is pointing in that direction. - Josh Ellis

"I always wanted to be a theater critic, a theater press agent or a Broadway star," he says. "Through process of elimination, as I describe in the show, I chose to be a press agent. But when you get a subscription to Variety for your bar mitzvah, you pretty much know the arrow is pointing in that direction."

Growing up outside Philadelphia, Ellis memorized box-office grosses the way other kids memorized sports scores. He saw every show that came through town on its way to New York.

"Most of those shows are 50 years old," he says. "But I can remember 'Ben Franklin in Paris' with Robert Preston better than I can remember what I saw last week."

Merrick loomed large in his life. Ellis loved seeing the producer on late- night talk shows and reading about his exploits in the papers.

As a press apprentice, he worked on "Mack & Mabel," which Merrick produced in 1974.

"On the first day of rehearsal, Merrick was introducing the actress who's going to play Mabel, and it's not the actress in the press release I'm handing out to reporters," Ellis recalls.

Merrick had fired the actress, Marcia Rodd, and replaced her with Bernadette Peters. But he didn't bother to tell his press agent.

In his show, Ellis recounts adventures with Yul Brynner ("knew how to manipulate the press"), Carol Channing ("nobody gave a better interview") and Claudette Colbert ("taught me how to light actors for photo shoots").

"These people were my teachers," he says, "that's why the subtitle is a 'Starry Education.'

And everything they taught me is still applicable. We read about the Kardashians. The fact is, the Kardashians have press agents. The President of the United States has press agents. Even Pope Francis has a press agent. They call him the 'President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.' But what do you think that is? A press agent! The whole point is to get your message across and get it out first. The tool kit is exactly the same. I just happened to have applied it in the theater."

Press agent Josh Ellis

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Wendy Williams has some killer ‘Gossip’

Exclusive: Daytime talk show maven Wendy Williams will host and produce a new series for ID called "Death By Gossip With Wendy Williams," recounting murders fueled by rumor and innuendo.

"It's the stuff that happens in towns and cities everywhere, where you've got the principal sleeping with the manager at the local store and she's married — and it ends in death," says Williams. "They're cases full of gossip, like the game of 'telephone.'"

The six-episode series will air this fall, is based on real-life cases and will feature ID's trademark reenactments — with Williams narrating and appearing on-camera a la Susan Lucci and her ID series, "Deadly Affairs." It's produced by Wendy Williams Productions in association with m2 Pictures.

Williams also launches her eponymous clothing line this Saturday on HSN. "I had no idea people are looking at what I'm wearing on my talk show … everyday, whether I love it or hate it, the clothes are the co-stars," she says.

So what's in a name?

Sandra Bernhard, just back from a string of live performances in Australia, makes her debut on this Monday's episode of CBS' "Two Broke Girls" as Joedth (pronounced "Joe") — the gay, highly opinionated manager of Manhattan eatery The High who hires Max (Kat Dennings) as pastry chef and Caroline (Beth Behrs) as hostess while dealing with her younger, druggie girlfriend, Allie (Shantel Wislawski).

Bernhard is slated to appear on five episodes, according to a CBS spokeswoman.

From left, Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), Joedth (Sandra Bernhard) and Max Black (Kat Dennings) on this Monday's episode of "Two Broke Girls."Photo: Mike AnsellWarner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

More comedy: Actor/comedian Gabriel Iglesias (Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Revolution," ABC's "Cristela") will appear April 17 at Madison Square Garden. He just sold out the Nokia Theater and Honda Center in LA — and reprised his role as Tobias the Bartender in "Magic Mike XXL" (at the request of star Channing Tatum), opening this summer.

Last, but not least …

Flushing's Evy Poumpouras is honored on Wednesday's "Steve Harvey" (3 p.m./Ch. 4) for her work with the Secret Service … A first: The entire hour of "Live With Kelly and Michael" airs live from the White House Easter Egg Roll (April 6) … Lois Robbins guest-stars on "Law & Order: SVU" April 8 and will star in Meg Ryan's directorial debut, "Ithaca." She'll also be seen in "Juvie" opposite Eric Roberts and "Blowtorch" (Billy Baldwin) … Comedian Maureen Langan will be at Don't Tell Mama this Friday and The Regency (Pompton Plains, NJ) on Saturday … "Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons met tongue-lolling, head-cocking Web star Marnie the Dog: "She showed up on our set … I was utterly starstruck," he tells the April 6 issue of People.

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Key education reforms may be yanked from budget proposal

Gov. Cuomo's key education reforms may be yanked from his state budget proposal and taken up in the Legislature's regular session after doubts arose over whether they could pass, sources told The Post.

"The Dream Act, charter schools, mayoral control [of New York City schools] and the Education Tax Credit are all out of the budget," a state official familiar with the process said Monday.

Cuomo blinked when it started to appear as if passage of the reforms might not survive negotiations with both political parties rushing to pass the $142 billion spending plan by the April 1 deadline, sources said.

"The Dream Act is supported by the Assembly and the Education Tax Credit is supported by the Senate," Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's spokeswoman, said in a statement.

"Last year, neither initiative was passed. The governor believes at this point, that either both will pass or neither. The governor supports passage of both and included them in his budget. If they don't pass in the budget, they could still pass in regular session."

Assembly Democrats have balked at several of Cuomo's proposals and especially want to limit how much teacher evaluations are based on test scores. The governor wants to base 50 percent on students' performance compared to the current 20 percent. Principals' input would also be limited under Cuomo's plan.

Republicans in the state Senate are resisting allowing the Dream Act — which would provide tuition assistance to illegal immigrants — in the state budget, sources said.

Many GOP senators run with the backing of the Conservative Party, which opposes the Dream Act. Votes on the Conservative line help determine the outcome of elections in upstate and suburban districts.

"It's a major problem if legislators vote for the Dream Act," said state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long.

Also taken out of the budget for now is a plan to create a $100 million tax break for people who donate to public, private and religious and charter schools — a provision backed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Jewish religious leaders.

Cuomo's proposed budget called for a $1.1 billion increase in school spending for local districts if the Legislature agreed to his reforms, but only about $375 million if it didn't.

DeRosa added that the governor was not budging on ethics reform.

"The governor has stated repeatedly and clearly that ethics reform was a top priority and that he wouldn't sign a budget without ethics reform. Nothing has changed," she said.

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If eerily Torre-like path continues, Mattingly is due for titles

GLENDALE , Ariz. — Of course, Don Mattingly has noticed the similarities. It is his life, after all, and Joe Torre is both friend and mentor, so how could he have missed it?

"I have seen the way his career and my career have matched up," Mattingly said. "I hope it keeps matching up."

They might not be mirror images, but they are close. Let us count a few ways:

• They were borderline Hall-of-Fame players who each won one MVP award.
• As players both kept missing great runs. Torre joined the Braves in 1960 right after Milwaukee had been the NL's dominant team of the late 1950s. He joined the Cardinals in 1969 right after St. Louis had been the dominant team of the 1960s. He refused a trade to the Yankees in 1976 — as they were heading to the World Series for the first time in 12 years — because he thought he could become player-manager of the Mets. Torre never reached the playoffs as a player.

Beginning in 1976, the Yankees went to the playoffs five times in six seasons through 1981 (winning two titles). Mattingly joined the Yankees in 1982. The Yankees made the playoffs just once in Mattingly's tenure, getting eliminated in the Division Series in 1995. He retired after that and the Yanks began a dynasty in 1996.

• In their first 19 years after playing regularly, Torre and Mattingly continued to be star crossed. Torre (who played briefly in 1977, but was mostly done after 1976) managed Mets teams before Frank Cashen changed the arc of the franchise. He managed Braves teams before Bobby Cox did the same. Through 1995, he managed the Cardinals after Whitey Herzog's distinguished run.

Mattingly became a coach for Torre in 2004, the year the Yankees became the first team ever to blow a three-games-to-none lead in the playoffs (to Boston in the ALCS). In the next three seasons, the Yankees lost in the first round of the postseason. Mattingly followed Torre to the Dodgers and Los Angeles lost in the NLCS twice in the next three years. Mattingly became the Dodgers manager in 2011 and Los Angeles has lost in the playoffs twice since.

It is easy to forget now, but going into the 1996 season, Torre was viewed as one of the great bridesmaids in baseball history, having never reached the World Series in any fashion. But then, in his mid-50s, Torre and his wife, Ali, had Andrea on Dec. 14, 1995, he went to spring training in February and won his first title in October.

In his mid-50s, Mattingly and his wife, Lori, had Louis on Nov. 19, Mattingly went to spring training in February and …

Mattingly and Torre in 2010Photo: Reuters

Mattingly chuckles at the comparison. But acknowledges just how tough winning a title is having spent so much of a baseball life without ever having even reached the Fall Classic.

But the implications should Mattingly not have a big October could be dire for him. The Dodgers are the new Yankees. They project to about a major league record $266 million payroll. The expectations are title or bust. There already were questions whether Mattingly would be brought back for this season after two playoff crashes.

Anything short of at least getting to the World Series will put his employment in dire circumstances.

He is dealing with a redone front office — the most expensive ever there, too — with Andrew Friedman being imported from Tampa Bay and Farhan Zaidi from Oakland, taking the analytics that brought success to small markets and adding money to Moneyball.

Mattingly says only a foolish manager would not use analytics in 2015, but he has been encouraged how much his new bosses value character and playing the game properly, too. Still, one of the strong buzzes in the game is that if the Dodgers are not big successes this year, Mattingly will be replaced by someone more attuned to the analytics.

When I talked to Friedman a few days ago, he would not discuss long-term plans, but said Mattingly is a great person who has been open to all the concepts.

And the front office has tried to make Mattingly's route to October easier. The Dodgers tried to defuse a problematic clubhouse temperature by trading Matt Kemp and letting Hanley Ramirez leave in free agency while concentrating on character and roster diversity in reconfiguring the team. They have tried to have a steadier plan for the mercurial Yasiel Puig.

Mostly, though, the roster remains loaded with talent with Puig, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Adrian Gonzalez. There is some concern No. 3 starter Hyun-jin Ryu (shoulder) could be lost for a while.

But Los Angeles is blessed with elite prospects and deep coffers. This is a team poised to win.

"Every year you manage, you should feel like you are going for that [a title]," Mattingly said.

This might be his last best chance. Will the similarities to Torre continue?

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High school handing out stress balls to misbehaving students

This is how they deal with school troublemakers in the de Blasio era — just have 'em squeeze some balls.

Brooklyn's John Dewey HS has resorted to giving misbehaving students foam stress balls to squeeze when they get angry — in a desperate attempt to keep them from going out of control, The Post has learned.

"They give out stress balls if you're having a problem that you can't deal with," said Brenna Pascal, 18, a senior. "I have a hard time . . . So my guidance counselor gave me one. I bring it with me every day."

Angry teachers said that using stress balls instead of real punishment was just one example of lax discipline at the school, which is already under a Department of Education probe for allegedly passing failing students through a bogus extra-credit program, derisively called "Easy Pass."

"The principal doesn't hold the students accountable. There's no discipline," one staffer fumed. "This is how we deal with discipline issues? We give kids stress balls?"

"They said they don't do punishment… The school gave him a stress ball." - Marie Vil — Parent

One mom told The Post that she gave administrators permission to punish her hyperactive freshman son to correct his behavior, but John Dewey officials told her that wasn't their style.

"They said they don't do punishment," said Marie Vil. "They said he doesn't sit down in class. He plays too much in class. He was disrupting the class. The school gave him a stress ball."

But the balls have become popular among some kids. One recalled a female classmate who would yell at her teacher, but now she just squeezes her stress balls.

"Whenever she got frustrated, she would take out her stress ball in class," the student said.

The ballsy move comes a month after Mayor de Blasio announced a new disciplinary policy to reduce the number of suspensions and arrests of students.

The de Blasio administration insisted the squeeze play at John Dewey is an isolated experiment, not a city-wide edict.

"One school staff member giving one student a stress ball has nothing remotely to do with our school discipline code," a department spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the DOE said it is "fully cooperating" with a probe into a grade-fixing scheme at John Dewey — first reported in Monday's Post.

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Mets’ Wilmer Flores ‘having problems walking’

JUPITER, Fla. — Wilmer Flores is hurting, but realizes his left foot could be much worse.

The Mets shortstop was absent from the lineup Monday, a day after fouling a pitch off his foot and undergoing X-rays that showed a bruise, but no fracture.

But Flores is unsure when he will return to action.

"I am having problems walking," said Flores, who removed the protective boot he had been wearing.

Manager Terry Collins said there is no timetable yet for Flores returning to the lineup, but he doesn't expect a prolonged absence.

"It's one of those things, it got him right in the joint," Collins said. "It may be another two days before he is out there."

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Jacob deGrom allowed two runs on four hits and one walk over four innings in the Mets' 12-3 exhibition victory over the Marlins.

"I struggled with keeping the ball down today," deGrom said. "It was just one of those days where I didn't have the best feel for where I was throwing it. I must have rushed a little bit."

DeGrom surrendered a two-run homer to Michael Morse in the first inning to account for the Marlins' runs against him. As division rivals, the Mets will see plenty of Morse and this Marlins lineup once the season begins.

"I will probably pitch guys a little different in the season," deGrom said. "Here's it's really, get my work in the last couple of starts, get ready for the season, throwing every pitch, but I'm sure there will be some adjustments during the season in what we do."

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Daniel Muno went 2-for-4 with three RBIs as he continues to battle for the second-base job should Daniel Murphy (hamstring) open the season on the disabled list.

"[Muno] has been made aware there are some bench jobs out there and he's looked very sharp so far," Collins said.

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Collins has flip-flopped Rafael Montero and Dillon Gee in the rotation. Gee will pitch Tuesday against the Astros and Montero will make the trip to Tampa on Wednesday to face the Yankees.

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Knicks target Marc Gasol evasive about free-agency plans

Memphis All-Star center Marc Gasol, one of the premier members — if not the premier member — of the upcoming free-agent class, reiterated Monday how he simply has not given the whole process much thought, what with an NBA season going on and all.

So go ahead, Pau's brother. Take five minutes and decide.

"It might take a little longer than that," Gasol said, laughing before the Grizzlies whacked the Knicks 103-82 Monday at the Garden. "And I'll probably want to put my wife in that decision."

Those who follow the Knicks, of course, await Gasol's moves. While the 7-foot-1 center claims he has made no decision, the smart money says the 30-year-old, seventh-season veteran stays with Memphis. The Grizzlies can give Gasol, their own unrestricted free agent, roughly $30 million more and a fifth year over what others can offer him with a four-year deal.

And do not discount the lure of the success of the Grizzlies who are headed to a franchise-best season after becoming a 50-victory team for a third straight season.

"I don't know what factors will play into my decision but the factors that are there today, you can't change the past," said Gasol, a 14.0-point, 7.9-rebound performer for his career while averaging 17.8 points and 8.0 rebounds this season after his 21-point, 8-rebound effort against the Knicks. "You can't change where I've been for the majority of my life as an adult.

"I came to Memphis when I was 16. My family's been tied to the franchise since the franchise has been in Memphis. You can't change that. I don't know what the future holds but I know what the past and the present is. I think that's pretty clear and we'll see how it goes going forward we'll see what factors go into my decision. I haven't put them down or written them down or even thought about them because I think there's no time. Like I said it's just not a process you can go through in the season."

Some maintain hope he has not discounted the Knicks. But he has not said "no" or "yes" to anything.

"I haven't put any time in it," Gasol said. "The truth is, I haven't put any time or any thought in that. It can have no impact right now. It can't help me or my team. It's not the time."

When the time comes that Gasol and Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge head the 2015 unrestricted class, the Knicks should inquire. Maybe they go the second-tier route this time and then try to make a huge splash in 2016 when the TV money enters the equation.

But this summer, Knicks coach Derek Fisher, who has endured a season no mortal should be made to endure, will offer his thoughts and insights. After all, he played against most of the free agents.

"I'm sure I'll be appropriately involved in all of the discussions in terms of what direction we want to go with our draft picks and how that plays out," Fisher said.

"It's hard for me to say what I expect. I would hope so. I think I will be [involved]. But July's a long way away from tonight. I do think there are tons of advantages to me being a first-year coach that did just finish playing the game, not just from a planning standpoint in terms of off the court and the culture and the way teams are being run now, but also on the court in terms of how the game's being played."

So Fisher jokingly admitted he's got to make nice with opponents.

"Unfortunately I do. Unfortunately I have had to remind myself that if I plan to do this for a long time I will have to be nicer to guys for sure," Fisher said.

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