Nets 101, Knicks 92

That was one brutal 3rd quarter. But if your idea of fun TV is watching Vince Carter repeatedly blow past an overmatched No. 1 Point Guard In The NBA Stephon Marbury, this was probably more entertaining than Joan and Melissa Rivers.

I don’t know how many malls they have in that part of the world, but Channing Frye might wanna get the heck out of the way the next time Bostjan Nachbar drives the lane unless his wants to be a fixture at Slovenia’s version of Spencer Gifts.

Along with taking shots at Otis Smith and Scottie Pippen in Sunday’s Hoops Du Jour column, Peter Vescey couldn’t lay off renowned sprint champion Charles Barkley.

Just when I thought Mike D’Antoni had reached the penthouse in my esteem, he crushed Charles Barkley with the truth. During a recent TNT telecast the monotonous mope criticized the Suns coach’s stunted rotation, ignorantly claiming Phoenix had the deepest bench in the league and arguing the reserves should be used more.

D’Antoni responded by saying he wasn’t sure he should take basketball advice from someone who “choked” away championships and had his own playoff conditioning questioned.

Last year during the playoffs, I told Jerry Colangelo I was aghast he had retired Barkley’s number. For a decade or so he ostracized his former franchise player with good reason; the Suns outgoing chairman/CEO believed Barkley’s after-hour playoff carousing had cost him a championship.

“Two championships,” Colangelo replied.

At the risk of Dan Steinberg claiming I’m making fun of a guy with serious issues, I sincerely hope Darryl Strawberry had a good seat for Maryland’s wild 89-87 win over Carolina yesterday afternoon in which son D.J. had a career high 27 points. While the Terrapins got off to a 2-5 start in the ACC, they’ve now won 5 straight against conference opponents and look likely for an NCAA tournament invite.