Just as remarkable, New York –which has settled into third place- had an opportunity to move within four games back of the idle Toronto Raptors. By contrast, Los Angeles, which owns third place of the Pacific Division, trail the front-running Phoenix Suns by a whopping 14 games.

That’s how it goes for the Knicks [22-28], winners of two straight –and now eight games better than the 2005-06 team-, after stomping the Clippers, 102-90, in front of 18,539 delirious fans, who ‘waved’ in delight on Wednesday evening.

Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford each tallied 23 points. David Lee –sporting a shiner beneath his right eye after absorbing Tim Thomas’ elbow- scored 16 points and concluded his 30^th game of 10 or more rebounds on a terrific hustle play with :32.6 seconds remaining. Stephon Marbury finished with 15 points and tossed in a game-high seven assists; it was the 26^th time he has topped New York in that category.

“Tonight, they had a line-up that was able to hit shots,” observed Elton Brand, who put in ten of his own for 22 points, with 13 rebounds. “Curry is so efficient in the paint. Crawford hit from the corner. Marbury hit a big three in the third [extending the Knick lead to 60-55].

“On our side, we tried to play unselfishly. But, we couldn’t hit our shots. That was the difference.”

While Los Angeles was outshot by less than two percentage points, a look at the stat sheet reveals another story. The Clippers [24-24] won the battle on the boards, 41-39. Their reserves outscored the Knicks’, 41-26. And, both in the paint [46-40] and on second-chances [26-10], they were superior.

The only true disparity was on the free throw line, where New York hit 36-of-44; L.A. was a paltry 14-of-20.

Earlier in the day, Isiah Thomas had spoke of his latest creation. Jerome James was set to help Eddy Curry on the defensive end, and contribute whatever he could on the offensive side. Except that, to the surprise of very few, James didn’t stay on the floor very long.

Just 3:15 into the game, he was gone, with his second personal foul. Soon, it would be Clippers 10, Knicks 1, and the beginning of a very long half. Though New York would eventually tie the game at 17, following Curry’s lay-up, Los Angeles was sparked by a pair of Thomas dunks en route to an 11-2 run over the final 2:33.

The Clips, ahead 28-19 after twelve minutes, quickly extended to a 12-point lead when Thomas, a former Knick, drained a trey. Even at the break, they were still on the long side of a 53-43 score. But, Marbury’s 12-point spurt in the third allowed New York to assume a 70-64 advantage to start the final quarter.

“They just turned it on,” said Thomas, who complemented Brand’s effort with 22 points, including six threes. “They made their shots. Tip your hat to them. They did a good job of making it a game. Then, once they got back into it, they made their shots down the stretch.”

The other Thomas, the Knicks’ coach, viewed the third quarter from a different aspect.

“Defensively,” he noted with a smile, “it was very impressive. We held them to 11 points. They were shooting well in the first half, [whereas] we were a little out of rhythm. I wanted to make sure that we were still confident and disciplined.”

Sometimes, the numbers don’t lie.

Previously, New York had won just two of 29 games when the trailed at the half. They are much more successful when holding a lead into the fourth, as they are now 18-0 when closing out a game.