Jamal Mashburn sat quietly in the visitors’ locker room after yesterday’s game still dressed in his Miami Heat uniform and still sweaty from the day’s work. His head was in his hands, his eyes were clenched shut.

“I take full responsibility,” Mashburn said. “I’m frustrated, (ticked) off. I did some things I usually don’t do. I’ve been in the league seven years and I should be playing smarter basketball than I did.”

Mashburn said he needs to make better decisions than he did in yesterday’s 6-of-15 shooting performance in Miami’s 91-83 loss to the Knicks.

As the first half ended, Mashburn, venting his frustration after he thought he was fouled by Latrell Sprewell, violently kicked the scorer’s table on the sideline and slightly injured a reporter. He later came into the press room and apologized.

Asked about the sequence, he said, “I thought I was fouled. I don’t want to say too much about the officiating, but I mean it’s not real clear. I really thought I got fouled and I got frustrated. But I can’t let that get the best of me.”

Mashburn, who earlier in the series had established himself as a serious scoring threat for the offensively challenged Heat, needed to score more for Miami yesterday.

After scoring 21 in Game 1, followed by 25 in Game 2 and 16 in Game 3, he managed only 13 yesterday in a game the Heat desperately needed more points than Alonzo Mourning’s 27.