Well, the series that included flagrant fouls, protests, near-fights and angry words ended last night with another Nets win.  

Tim Thomas, the center of half of those attributes, was finally able to dress for the first time since he was the victim of a hard foul in Game 1 but that would be as far as he could get, not being able to step onto the Madison Garden floor to help his teammates in battle.

The Nets were able to laugh off most of the talk that surfaced from the Knicks and laid claim to being the superior team for the third consecutive year.

"That's what it proves," forward Kenyon Martin said. "They played an excellent series. But we've been saying it for three years now, we want to prove who the No. 1 team in the area is. We helped that cause today."

The Nets had no answer for Martin or for Jason Kidd, who played a pivitol defensive role on Knicks superstar Stephon Marbury down the stretch.

"Well, with all the talk, throughout the year, they were going to catch us, they were the better team, they wanted to play us in the playoffs," said Kidd. "Well, like I said, sometimes it's fool's gold. Sometimes you wish for something that you want and in reality you don't want it. But they got what they needed."

Tim Thomas is still hoping to be able to play in Game 4 as the Knicks fight for survival, but after being not able to practice Saturday his status is doubtful at best.

Thomas, who has missed games 2 and 3 after taking a hard foul from Nets center Jason Collins in Game 1, is suffering from back spasms and a sore left ankle.

"My whole right side is locked up," said Thomas.

"Nothing's changed," Thomas said. "It's frustrating. I tried to give it a go today."

New Orleans' P.J. Brown was awarded with the NBA's Sportsmanship Award before his Hornets took on the Miami Heat in a must win game.

Brown, a finalist in each of the past three seasons after being a Central Division winner, beat out the Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand (1,139), the Memphis Grizzlies' Shane Battier (985) and the New Jersey Nets' Kerry Kittles (880) to take the award.  Brown finished with 1,220 of a possible 1,320 points.

The trophy, named after Joe Dumars, honors a player who exemplified the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, ethical behavior and fair play.

There is an old saying that desperate times call for desperate measures.

Being down 3-0 and facing elimination in a Playoff series surely fits under this category - like the New York Knicks - and the actions of their GM Isiah Thomas certainly reflect despiration.

Thomas was hoping that the league would rule to replay the last one minute and fifty seconds of Game 3 after the clock stopped during two seperate New Jersey possessions in the final 1:50 of play.  New York ended up losing the game by three points.

"Jersey had two opportunities to extend their offensive possessions," Thomas said. "We contend it hurt us at two crucial times of the game. This is not about the officials' judgement. You're allowed 24 seconds to complete an offensive play. We think New Jersey was given more than 24 seconds to complete those two offensive plays."

The extra time added to a total of fourteen seconds.  

During one of the plays Kenyon Martin drove to the basket and was fouled.  Martin missed both free throws and the Knicks got the rebound.

The second play saw Martin drive to the hoop, get fouled by Kurt Thomas and make the basket.  Martin then hit the free throw, completing a three point play.  The shot clock stopped with 11 seconds left and remained still for six seconds, so Martin would have gotten the shot off anyway.

An NBA statement read: "Although review of the game video shows there were two clock malfunctions, neither of the timing errors had a detrimental impact on the outcome of the game for the Knicks."

Thomas claimed that with the shot clock about to expire Martin would have been under additional pressure, hurrying the shot.

"We believe it would've been more of a rushed shot," Isiah Thomas said. "Traditionally, players have an internal clock in their head. He would've had a totally different preparation for his shot."

Thomas knew the protest was a longshot, saying, "We will live with the decision."

The war of words between forwards Kenyon Martin of the Nets and Tim Thomas of the Knicks continued yesterday with Thomas firing shots back at Martin.

Thomas responded to Martin's comment "Lock us in a room together and see who comes out" with a "Put us in a room. I'd love that".  Love that they may, but it will not happen.  Thomas is still doubtful for Game 4 although he hasn't ruled out himself.

Thomas, who started the war by claiming that Martin was a fake tough guy, said neither Martin nor any of the Nets dared to look at him when he sat on the bench during Game 3 Thursday.

Even though Kerry Kittles denies it his teammates say that he still has bad feelings about the time Stephon Marbury spent in New Jersey.  Back then Marbury made it crystal clear how he felt, writing "All Alone" on his sneakers.

Now as the pair face off it is Kittles who is getting some satisfaction as he works to disrupt Marbury's game, using his length to his advantage.

"Am I going to shut them down? No," he said. "But I think in the back of their minds they're going to be a little bit, you know, where am I at with my length and what I can do."

What Kittle's length has done is prevent Marbury from scoring a single field goal in a second half of the Nets-Knicks series, shooting 13 of 34 in the two games as the Nets took a 2-0 lead.

In the times where Marbury has got past Kittles Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson have been their waiting to swat away any shot attempt.

"You have to have the defensive mentality," Nets Coach Lawrence Frank said. "It's important to understand how much of a factor you can be. And then to be a nuisance, to have active hands, to create deflections, to create steal opportunities, to play the passing lanes, to get back-taps from behind, make guys believe that you're going to be there when they beat you off the dribble and to know you're going to recover in time. It's a skill, and the most important thing is the passion to want to do it."

"His wingspan is probably about 7-foot," Jefferson said. "So it is something different than guards are used to seeing. His anticipation, the way he gets into the passing lanes. And he never tires. Kerry never gets tired. And I think that frustrates some guards."

There is no doubt in Tim Thomas' mind that the foul dished out on him by Nets forward Jason Collins was deliberate writes Chris Boussard of the New York Times, and despite five days passing since the event his mood hasn't improved.

"He just went straight after my body," Thomas said. "I guess if you can't stop a guy, you go hurt him."

Thomas wasn't done there, saying that he'd learn a lot from his teammates if they don't retaliate on his behalf.  He also said that his main motivation for returning was to "hit somebody."

Penny Hardaway said he believed Collins's foul was intentional. But Hardaway added that neither he nor his teammates would set out to hurt any of the Nets.

"You can't go out there and just hammer somebody," Hardaway said. "That doesn't make any sense. It's basketball. When somebody goes to the basket, you've just got to take a hard playoff foul. Everybody understands what a playoff foul is - no layups, hard fouls, make the guy think about coming in there. That's what we have to do."

Stephon Marbury just wanted to hoop, not fight, last night.
While a blood-thirsty Dikembe Mutombo got roundly booed by the Meadowlands faithful, Marbury had more important basketball business to attend to: carrying the Knicks' depleted offense.

When the Coney Island Kid broke free on a fast break late in the first half and got taken out by Richard Jefferson with a hard foul, Marbury bounced up instantly. Instead of darting for Jefferson, he emphatically strutted to the foul line. Marbury's message was clear: Nothing was to distract him from trying to lift the injury-wracked Knicks, who were playing without Allan Houston and Tim Thomas. Making all sorts of perimeter bombs, some off balance, he scored 18 first-half points on 7-of-14 shooting. For the Knicks, it was a joy to watch. But his spree ended.

Marbury petered out in the second half, missing all six field goals, failing to score until 6:40 left as the Knicks got blown away for the second straight game, 99-81, to fall behind 0-2. He has yet to notch a field goal in the second half of the Lincoln Tunnel Series.

"Someone was just telling me I have to go out like Allen Iverson," said Marbury, "start shooting the ball at a rapid speed."

"Steph's got a tough task," said Houston. "What I see is a team that's forced to play with two of their starters out, two of their top three scorers. It's hard to make adjustments when they take the ball out of Steph's hands. We've had to play on the run all year. Now in the playoffs, we're forced to play even without that."

"He made tough shots tonight," Jason Kidd said. "I thought he had a wonderful game. We were hoping the second half he missed more than he made. The way the game started, we thought we might be in for a long night."

Said Marbury about his second-half drought, "Guys started hitting shots, Kurt and Penny got going. It was not really for me to score. At the beginning, I was the only one making. That's why I kept forcing the issue."

For the Knicks, winning the series against the Nets is almost an afterthought. They have more pressing and attainable goals right now. One is to win a game, the other to win the affection and/or respect of the Original Bad Boy, their president, Isiah Thomas. The Knicks can accomplish both by turning up the physical intensity and mimicking the tactics employed by the Nets in Game 1. Even the Nets expect a certain measure of retaliation.

"A more physical game wouldn't surprise me the least bit," forward Richard Jefferson said.

The most likely target for the Knicks is a player with a history of showing a short fuse, a player who bragged how he "doesn't back down from anyone," and a player who'd give the Knicks a chance by getting suspended.

All it would take is a subtle, well-placed elbow from someone to get things started. But the Knicks should double-check their scouting reports on Kenyon Martin and make sure they aren't from 2002. The Mellow Boy doesn't fall easily for those traps anymore.

"We have smart guys on this team," Martin said. "We're not going to jeopardize anything by getting suspended. I know I won't."

A few years ago, Martin's blood pressure would rise higher than he does to catch alley-oop passes from Jason Kidd. He came into the league with a tattoo on his chest and a chip on his shoulder. Martin thought it was important to send messages and develop a league-wide reputation for toughness. Instead, he developed a taste for flagrant fouls and ejections.

"Some guys try to find their niche," teammate Kerry Kittles said. "That was Kenyon's way."

Martin had 10 flagrant fouls in his first three seasons, was suspended for seven games and fined almost $350,000. The team tried to help channel his aggression in a more positive manner. Nothing helped. Martin did it his way. He was reckless and angry and willing to lash out counterproductively. He hurt his team. For a while, Martin was more hatchet man than basketball player. Eventually, common sense kicked in. That was a reputation he didn't want.

"He changed," Kittles said, "and it had to do with maturity. Just a lot of growth. Kenyon grew as a player and a person, and that was important for him and for us. It was a turning point for everybody. He's now a leader for us on the floor. You don't see any of the old stuff anymore."

Dikembe Mutombo used war analogies yesterday when talking about a fallen comrade and then accused a former teammate, Nets center Jason Collins, of having "a few dirty tricks underneath the basket."

The outrage that the Knicks failed to express during and immediately after Game 1 finally surfaced yesterday, after they had a chance to review the tape of Collins' flagrant foul two days earlier that sent Tim Thomas to the hospital and probably knocked the starting small forward out of the first-round series.

"I think this series is going to be very physical," Mutombo warned on the eve of Game 2. "There's no question about that. We're just going to see how we come out. We're going to come out and we're going to be in their face and we're going to play our game."