When Antonio McDyess strolls the Garden hallways tonight, he will give the cold shoulder to Isiah Thomas.

"He never said anything to me when I was there, so what do I have to say to him now?" the former Knick, now an injury-listed Sun, told The Post yesterday.

"I'm happy to be out of that situation. I was feeling uncomfortable."

McDyess won't play tonight when the Suns visit for the first time since Jan. 5's Stephon Marbury blockbuster. He'll save his revenge for the Knicks' visit to Phoenix Feb. 25.

DALLAS (AP) The Dallas Mavericks were awarded forward Scott Williams on a waiver claim Friday, giving them a much-needed defensive presence in the low post.

The 6-foot-10 Williams, a 13-year veteran, was waived Wednesday by the Phoenix Suns. There were reports in Los Angeles that the Lakers planned to sign Williams, but the Mavericks claimed his contract.

``The Lakers didn't put a claim on him,'' agent Arn Tellem said. ``He's happy. This is what he wanted.''

Williams appeared in 16 games for Phoenix, including 10 starts, and averaged 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds. He won three NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls from 1991-93.

One of the league's worst defensive teams, the Mavericks have allowed teams to score 99.8 points _ the highest opponents' average of any NBA team.

Williams is expected to be uniform Saturday against Denver.

Dallas had an open spot on its roster and did not have to make another move.

The Phoenix Suns waived forward Scott Williams on Wednesday, freeing him up to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.

Williams' Agent, Arn Tellum, has assurance from all teams except the Los Angeles Lakers that they won't claim him off waivers.

However, the Lakers have shown no interest in Williams.

Williams is greatful to the Suns for letting go play for a contender.

"The Valley is home for me and my family," Williams said. "I look forward to coming back in the off-season and seeing everybody at Bank One Ballpark and Houston's (restaurant)."

The Phoenix Suns are willing to release forward/center Scott Williams so that he can play for a contender in the Dallas Mavericks.

However, Williams wants to make sure that no other team will claim off waivers and he has no assurance that won't happen.

"League sources told ESPN.com that Williams' agent, Arn Tellem, is "working to ensure that other teams don't claim him" before Williams is released, which could happen as soon as Wednesday. Williams has said that if he can't choose the team that claims him, he'd prefer to finish the season on the Suns' bench. Phoenix has already offered Williams a spot as an assistant coach, and Williams has made it clear that he hopes to make Phoenix his permanent base when he's done playing."

The Mavericks have held a roster spot for former Portland center Arvydas Sabonis but failed twice in their attempts to lure him back to the States.

Suns forward Amare Stoudemire's sore right toe and left ankle are healing but he won't rush back just to play in the Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend.

"I wouldn't just come back for that game," Stoudemire said. "I'd make sure I'm ready and get a couple of games under my belt before I would play in the All-Stars. I'd have fun playing, but my health is a lot more important than that game."

It is looking more and more likely that Amare Stoudemire will be sitting on the sidelines for Phoenix's entire five-game, seven-day trip.

Stoudemire, who has been out with a hyperextended big right toe and a sprained left ankle, does not expect to play on the roadtrip.

"Nah, probably not," he said, adding that the toe continues to be more of a problem than the ankle. He had surgery in the off-season to remove a bunion from that toe, which bothered him last season."

Joe Dumars was a key player on the Detroit Pistons team that won a franchise-record 13 straight games 14 seasons ago. He saw it done again from a different perspective this time.

``This has been a great run and these guys deserve it,'' said Dumars, now the Pistons' president of basketball operations. ``I'm very proud of the coaching staff and the players for giving such an incredible effort.''

Chauncey Billups scored 13 of his 18 points in the final 3:17 on Monday to lift Detroit to an 85-77 win over the reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, tying the franchise record set by Dumars and the rest of ``The Bad Boys'' during their 1989-90 championship season.

And how about this juicy story line: Detroit will have a chance to break the record Tuesday on the road against the Central Division-leading Indiana Pacers, led by its former coach, Rick Carlisle.

``We tied the streak and now we want to break it,'' Chucky Atkins said. ``We are going up against our old coach for the No. 14.''

In other games, it was Phoenix 88, the Los Angeles Lakers 85; Washington 93, Chicago 83; New York 90, Toronto 79; Indiana 100, Atlanta 97; Seattle 90, Philadelphia 81; Orlando 106, Milwaukee 99; Sacramento 125, the Los Angeles Clippers 100; Minnesota 97, New Orleans 90; Memphis 88, Houston 83; and Golden State 101, Utah 85.

Pistons coach Larry Brown hadn't won 13 straight in his Hall of Fame career until Monday. The Pistons haven't lost since New Jersey beat them at home on Dec. 26.

Billups tied it at 72 with a 3-pointer with 3:17 left, and made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining. His three-point play put the Pistons up 81-77 with 48.6 seconds to go. Billups then made all four of his free throw attempts to seal the win during Detroit's game-ending 12-0 run.

``If I get a look late in the game, I just feel like I'm going to make it,'' said Billups, who didn't miss a shot as he scored the game's final 10 points. ``I don't know what it is in me.''

Tim Duncan had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, but the two-time league MVP didn't come through when they needed him most.

Duncan missed two free throws when San Antonio was ahead 77-75 with 1:47 left, and his shot was blocked by Ben Wallace on its next possession.

Suns 88, Lakers 85

At Los Angeles, Joe Johnson scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and Jake Voskuhl made two key follow shots down the stretch as Phoenix beat the injury-depleted Lakers.

Voskuhl had season-high totals of 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns.

Kareem Rush led the Lakers with 18 points, and Bryon Russell added a season-high 17. Los Angeles played without Shaquille O'Neal (strained right calf), Kobe Bryant (sprained right shoulder) and Karl Malone (sprained knee ligament). The Suns went without Amare Stoudemire (ankle).

Wizards 93, Bulls 83

At Washington, the Wizards won consecutive games for the first time in two months. Since beating Atlanta on Nov. 17 and Cleveland two days later, Washington had gone 5-22 before Saturday's 99-84 win over Seattle.

Larry Hughes had 25 points to lead the Wizards. Jamal Crawford had 19 for the Bulls.

Knicks 90, Raptors 79

At New York, Stephon Marbury had 28 points and 14 assists to keep coach Lenny Wilkens undefeated in his new job.

The Knicks improved to 3-0 under Wilkens by defeating the team he coached the past three seasons. Marbury scored 13 in the third quarter, when the Knicks took the lead for good, then added 11 more in the fourth.

Pacers 100, Hawks 97

At Atlanta, Reggie Miller hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and added two free throws in the final minute to lead the Pacers to their fourth straight win.

Jermaine O'Neal had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana. Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 32 points for the Hawks.

SuperSonics 90, 76ers 81

At Philadelphia, Ray Allen scored 28 points to help the SuperSonics end a four-game losing streak.

Glenn Robinson scored 27 points for Philadelphia, which lost its third straight.

Magic 106, Bucks 99

At Orlando, Tracy McGrady scored 34 points to pace the Magic. Joe Smith led Milwaukee with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Kings 125, Clippers 100

At Los Angeles, Peja Stojakovic scored 31 points to help the Kings win their fifth straight and ninth in 10 games.

Elton Brand had 24 points and six rebounds for the Clippers.

Timberwolves 97, Hornets 90

At Minneapolis, Sam Cassell had 22 points to help the Timberwolves win their ninth straight at home.

Kevin Garnett led Minnesota with 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Baron Davis had 25 points for the Hornets before mildly spraining his left ankle midway through the fourth quarter.

Grizzlies 88, Rockets 83

At Memphis, Tenn., Pau Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and James Posey scored 13 of his 17 points to lead the Grizzlies to their fifth straight win.

Steve Francis had 23 points for Houston.

Warriors 101, Jazz 85

At Oakland, Calif., Erick Dampier had his 20th double-double with 18 points and a career-high 24 rebounds, and Golden State beat short-handed Utah.

Calbert Cheaney scored 20 points off the bench for the Warriors.

Raja Bell had a career-high 25 points, six rebounds and five assists for Utah, which was missing its entire front line.

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Phoenix Suns placed forward Antonio McDyess on the injured list Monday and activated forward/center Maciej Lampe.

Both players came to the Suns from the New York Knicks two weeks ago in the Stephon Marbury trade.

McDyess will miss a minimum of five games because of tendinitis in his left knee. He has played in 22 games this season including four since the trade and is averaging 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds.

The 6-foot-11 Lampe, who turns 19 next month, was a second-round draft choice of the Knicks who hadn't played in an NBA game before Monday night's contest against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lampe, born in Poland and raised in Sweden, was placed on the injured list Oct. 27 with shin splints.

"Forward Amare Stoudemire did not travel with the team to Los Angeles and will miss tonight's game against the Lakers and Wednesday's game in Denver after aggravating the left ankle that he sprained earlier this season."

He re-aggravated it in Sunday's 96-92 victory over the Portland Trailblazers.

Suns forward Antonio McDyess might have to go on the injured list next because of pain in his surgically repaired left patella.

McDyess doesn't want to go on the injured list but he doesn't want to take the chance of getting hurt again either.

"I really don't want to, but if that's the best thing for me maybe I'll have to do it," he said. "I don't want to take a chance and get hurt again."

If McDyess does indeed go on the injured list, forward Maciej Lampe will be activated to replace him on the active roster.