Knicks and Nets Are Rivals in Geography Only
By LIZ ROBBINS

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Feb. 8 — This rivalry, or at least its remnants, could be heard in the sound of one hand dunking: Vince Carter's.

For every twisting, whirling slam from Carter, the Knicks countered with blank looks and unexplained turnovers.

And Knicks Coach Larry Brown responded once again by criticizing his players' effort while offering a mixed explanation of where he sees his team going from here.

If the Nets are sailing on Carter's coattails, the Knicks are tumbling over each other in a state of disarray. Committing turnovers, failing to defend and missing shots at the worst times, the Knicks dropped their seventh straight game and their 13th of 14 when the Nets trounced them, 96-83, in a game that was decided by the second quarter.

"We're past the point of worrying about who we play," Brown said. "We have to find out who wants to play."

Training camp is long gone and already more than half the season has passed in futility — leading to the Knicks' 14-34 record — but Brown said that he is still trying to evaluate his players. He admitted before the game that it might be time to throw up the white flag.

"If it gets to the point of where it's going, where we can't win a game," Brown said, "then I think the young kids are going to play more."

But after Carter threw the flag in the Knicks' faces, and when it seemed as if the Knicks had reached that losing point, Brown seemed to backtrack.

"I've been playing young guys," he said. "I want to be careful how many I play at the same time. I want to play guys who show a desire to play and win, a desire to compete. You can't be out there begging guys to compete and have a will to win."

The Nets do not have such a problem. They won their 12th straight game at home and beat their cross-river rivals for the 19th time in the last 22 games in the Jason Kidd era. Stephon Marbury, the point guard the Nets traded to Phoenix to get Kidd in 2001, sat on the Knicks' bench in a suit, missing his fourth straight game with a bruised left shoulder.

Kidd scored just 9 points and had 6 assists as Carter led the Nets with 22 points, 8 of them off memorable dunks.

"Vince is a great player," said Eddy Curry, who had only 5 points. "You don't want to be a part of that, especially losing the way we are, that's like a slap in the face."

Both Brown and the assistant coach Herb Williams addressed their players' effort after the game, and Curry said softly: "We've got to get tougher, we can't continue to let teams embarrass us. That's the bad part, we've heard this before. We've just got to get it done."

As the Knicks try to absorb Brown's relentless style of instruction, Isiah Thomas, the team's president, is still searching for what type of players his coach really wants on his roster.

"He wanted me to write down what kind of makeup of the team we would like and what kind of guards, forwards, centers," Brown said. "I told him, 'I evaluate every day with my staff and I would be happy to do that.' We both want to see us win and not for the short range."

Thomas is not willing to sacrifice the future. He continues to have discussions with teams to upgrade his roster, but for now, he does not waver on one point. He will not trade the rookie power forward Channing Frye.

Several teams, including the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, have contacted the Nets recently about Frye, according to two executives in the league who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about other teams.

The Knicks have interest in the former Nets forward Kenyon Martin, but that interest stops when Frye's name is mentioned as a price.

Frye scored 17 points Wednesday night as the newly acquired veteran Jalen Rose led the Knicks with 22 points. He also committed 5 of the Knicks 21 turnovers. The Nets went on an 18-7 run in the middle of the second quarter, as the Knicks fell behind by double digits and never recovered.

"When you have a young team like we do, the No. 1 thing they have to learn is how to compete," Rose said.

The Knicks have the second-worst record in the league, while the Nets improved to 26-21. Carter dazzled the Knicks all night with his razzmatazz moves. First came his one-handed, off-balance layup in the second quarter. Then came his 360-degree spin on the baseline in the third quarter when he smoothly switched the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air and drew a foul for a 3-point play.

"It's definitely a good feeling when the trick shot works and gives your team momentum," Carter said. "I just try to be in attack mode and make things happen."

That gave the Nets a 62-42 lead less than three minutes into the second half and the rest of the game — including his one-handed stuff three minutes later — was just a way to pass the time. That might be the way the Knicks finish this season.

REBOUNDS

Knicks forward Maurice Taylor left after just four minutes in the first quarter with a left-knee bruise he originally sustained in Sunday's game against Houston. ... dick Bavetta, 66, set a record for most games officiated Wednesday night when he worked the Knicks-Nets contest. Bavetta passed the retired Jake O'Donnell by referring his 2,135th game. In Bavetta's 31 seasons as an N.B.A. referee, he has never missed a game. The Nets marked the occasion in a timeout in the first quarter. "He's a great official; he's great for the game," said Knicks Coach Larry Brown, who started coaching in the N.B.A. the same season Bavetta began as a referee (1975-76). "That's a heck of a feat. He still looks young. He still gets up and down the court as well as anybody. We need more like him." ... Antonio Davis, who was recently traded to the Raptors, had some pointed comments about the Knicks on Tuesday in Toronto, saying that Brown and Isiah Thomas needed to get on the same page quickly. "Isiah's never told me who to play," Brown said before the game. "Everybody's commented how many lineups we've had. Every day I go into the dressing room and I don't know who's going to be healthy."