New York ? Shaquille O’Neal looked up at the scoreboard during a timeout, shook his head and laughed. It wasn’t the score he found amusing, it was the absurdity of the moment.

Fans were playing a game called “Know Your Knicks,” trying to guess center Felton Spencer’s favorite cartoon .

“It was kind of dead in the building today,” O’Neal said.

Madison Square Garden was exactly as lifeless as O’Neal described Sunday as the Lakers overpowered the Knicks 107-91. O’Neal scored 30 points, Kobe Bryant added 27 and Robert Horry had 20 as the Lakers won their third in a row on the road.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of energy in this arena today. It’s a surprise not to see that energetic crowd that gets them fired up,” coach Phil Jackson said.

The loss was the fifth in a row for the last-place Knicks, who have won as many wins (10) in 35 games under Don Chaney as they did in 19 games under Jeff Van Gundy before he quit in late November.

New York has lost three straight at home and nine of 11 overall during the franchise’s worst season in 15 years.

Responding to Jackson’s threat of no days off for the rest of the season unless they earn one, the Lakers remained unbeaten on their five-game road trip that concludes with stops in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

Latrell Sprewell had 22 and Allan Houston 21 for the Knicks, who fell behind by as many as many as 21 in the first half.

Nets 95, Hornets 93

East Rutherford, N.J. Â Lucious Harris hit a go-ahead layup with 46 seconds to play and the Nets rallied from a 23-point deficit in the second half.

The Nets held the Hornets to just 11 points in winning their sixth straight game and ending Charlotte’s five-game winning streak on the road.

Baron Davis had 29 points to lead the Hornets.

Bucks 89, Pistons 82

Milwaukee  Sam Cassell scored 27 points and Ray Allen added 21 as the Bucks snappedthe Pistons’ franchise-record seven-game road winning streak. Milwaukee moved into sole possession of first place in the Central Division at 32-22, one game ahead of the Pistons. Jerry Stackhouse led the Pistons with 19 points.

Sonics 101, Raptors 92

Toronto  Brent Barry scored 23 points, Gary Payton added 22 and Rashard Lewis had 21 as the SuperSonics won their sixth straight road game. Vince Carter scored 28 points in his first game back from the injured list.

Heat 92, Wizards 80

Miami  Michael Jordan sat out the final 6:27 with a bruised right knee, and Washington blew a fourth-quarter lead against Miami for the second night in a row. Jordan, who missed Wednesday’s loss at Detroit because of the knee injury, shot 4-for-13 and finished with nine points. The Wizards have lost five in a row.

Suns 92, Spurs 83

Phoenix  Stephon Marbury scored a season-high 36 points as Phoenix handed San Antonio its second road defeat in two nights. David Robinson led the Spurs with 25 points. Tim Duncan had 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Cavaliers 111, Magic 96

Cleveland  Ricky Davis scored 27 points in a rare start as Cleveland took advantage of an Orlando team playing without Tracy McGrady, who sat out with a sore right foot.

Hawks 89, Nuggets 84

Denver  Jason Terry scored 25 points as Atlanta handed the Nuggets their fifth straight loss. Tim Hardaway went to the foul line with 29 seconds left and a chance to tie it for Denver, but he made just one of two free throws. Shareef Abdur-Rahim hit a pair of foul shots to put the Hawks up 87-84. Hardaway then missed again.