Tom Thibodeau made the comparison first, based on the work ethic and leadership his best players, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, have displayed.

His rampaging team is reminding him of the late 1990s Knicks that were an annual playoff contender.

“He was here, and he sees it,” Jalen Brunson said. “He sees the direction we’re going in.”

It certainly has felt like those halcyon days lately at MSG, when the Knicks were a force and the postseason was inevitable, and it sure had that kind of vibe Wednesday night.

The white-hot Knicks treated the Nets like a sparring partner, not at all allowing Monday’s big win over the Celtics to let them get ahead of themselves.

The Knicks equaled a franchise record with 14 first-half 3-pointers, shot a robust 60.7 percent from the field and annihilated the crumbling Nets, 142-118, at a joyous and sold-out Garden for their seventh straight win.

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They also won for the sixth straight time at home, after struggling so much in their own building, and pulled to within one game in the loss column of the fourth-place Cavaliers.

Newcomer Josh Hart has said on a few occasions the Knicks can make a postseason run, and the way they are playing right now, who’s to argue?

“I feel like right now we are clicking on all cylinders,” Quentin Grimes said. “Everybody is playing unselfish and playing for one another.”

Before the game, Thibodeau brought up the late-1990s Knicks unprompted.

This group has a similar work ethic from its leaders. It began in the summer, when Brunson spent large chunks of August and September prior to training camp at the practice facility getting to know his new teammates.

“That’s what their team was like, Allan Houston, Patrick Ewing set the tone for all of that. When you walked in — it could be the middle of the summer — he was in there, he was your hardest worker,” Thibodeau said. “When your best players are setting the tone for the team, it’s special.”

It was a special night for the Knicks, who set season-highs in 3-pointers made (20) and points scored (142).

Brunson poured in 39 points on absurd 15 of 18 shooting to lead six Knicks in double figures. Grimes added 22 and Randle notched 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

They scored 81 first-half points, their most since scoring 82 on Nov. 29, 2008, against the Warriors, and cruised the rest of the way.

“It’s a real fun game because everybody is involved,” said RJ Barrett, who had 15 points. “You could point to everybody and say, ‘All right, they had a great game tonight.’ That’s something that’s rare and try to just keep replicating that.”

After losing nine straight to the Nets (34-28), the Knicks have beaten their intracity rivals twice in a row, both in dominant fashion by a combined 42 points.

The Nets, losers of four straight and six of seven, are obviously very different now, after trading Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the Knicks (37-27) reminded them of that painful fact with a thorough beatdown.

There was no letup. Hart was diving into the crowd and Brunson drawing charges with the game well in hand. Thibodeau even challenged a blocking call with the Knicks up 26 and 4:58 left.

“Jalen, he gave up his body on that play,” Thibodeau said. “To me, just do the right thing.”

He won the challenge.

There was almost nothing not to like about this effort.

Afterward, players joked with one another as they were being interviewed. Brunson and Randle made fun of each other in the press conference room and raced out the door.

Thibodeau even cracked a smile after taking Brunson out with a few minutes left. The point guard had given him a fist bump and cracked a joke.

It wasn’t about his fantastic performance, though.

“No, he doesn’t care about that,” Brunson said. “He cares about wins. That’s it. Wins and how we can get better. That’s all he cares about. That’s all I care about.”

Neither has had anything to complain about lately. The Knicks are not only winning, they appear, in fact, to be improving by the game.