NET NOTES

The Knicks declared war. They wanted Richard Jefferson suspended for stepping on the court. Tim Thomas accused Kenyon Martin of being phony, called for retaliation on the court and proposed a one-on-one fight. They protested a loss.

And the Nets have the area’s inferiority complex?

“The thing is there’s only one side really talking,” said Jason Kidd. “We just go out there and play. We don’t have anything to say. Except when K-Mart came out with the picture taped to his shirt. That was probably the biggest thing anybody has done on this team in the last three years because we’re very vanilla. We don’t talk. We just play. Hurt, not hurt, goes our way, doesn’t go our way. Our excuse is we didn’t play hard. Bottom line.”

The Nets have seen a lot of this before – just not this early in the playoffs.

“There’s been a lot in a short amount of time in this series. I’ve never seen so many things. Normally it happens in the Finals,” Kidd said.

The Nets have been where the Knicks are: down 0-3 in a series. Not the best place to be. But nothing is hopeless.

“You never think the series is over,” Jefferson noted. “But there’s a matter of respect. You’re out there playing for pride. You never want someone to celebrate on your home court. Your thing is, ‘OK, let’s try to win one, let’s try to win two.’ The percentages of winning the series go down. It doesn’t mean the percentages of winning the game go down.”

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P.J. Brown of New Orleans won the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award, by vote of league players. One player from each division was honored. Net Kerry Kittles represented the Atlantic and finished fourth behind Brown, Clipper Elton Brand and Memphis’ Shane Battier.

Rodney Rogers is “still under the weather.