New York ? Latrell Sprewell made a lot of noise in his return to Madison Square Garden, cursing at the Knicks’ owner, screaming at their bench and yelling in triumph after the best comeback game by any player to have spent at least five seasons in New York.

Sprewell scored 31 points in between his yells and taunts to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves over the team that traded him last summer, 98-92, Tuesday night.

It was exactly the kind of return Sprewell wanted, with the fans chanting his name before tipoff and him saving his best for the fourth quarter — just as he often did with the Knicks.

Sprewell saved his biggest outbursts for the end, turning to James Dolan, chairman of the Knicks corporate owner and unleashing a stream of curses after his three-pointer gave Minnesota a 94-89 lead with 1:14 left.

“He knows what I said,” Sprewell said. “I got my point across.”

Referee Dan Crawford came over and warned Sprewell to knock if off during the ensuing timeout, but Sprewell kept it up anyway and directed his next rant at the Knicks’ bench.

The tirade earned him a technical foul that allowed New York to pull to 95-92 with 30.4 seconds left, but Sam Cassell wrapped up the victory on a three-pointer with 11.3 seconds remaining.

Cassell shot 14-for-19 and also scored 31, while Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 13 rebounds.

The Knicks played their first game under the leadership of new team president Isiah Thomas, who watched the game from the tunnel near midcourt with his 15-year-old son Joshua at his side. Thomas didn’t get to see much of New York’s best frontcourt player, however, as Antonio McDyess sat out the second half with a sore and swollen knee after going scoreless in the first half.

Minnesota's Latrell Sprewell, center, puts up a shot against New York. Sprewell scored 31 points against his former team as the Timberwolves defeated the Knicks, 98-92, Tuesday night in New York.

“It’s not a setback, it’s part of the process,” McDyess said. “It’s one game, I can take that.”

By scoring 31, Sprewell broke the record of 28 points for an ex-Knick in his comeback game set by Walt Frazier when he played for Cleveland Oct. 25, 1977.

Allan Houston led New York with 26, and Keith Van Horn — the player the Knicks acquired in exchange for Sprewell, scored 20 — only two in the fourth quarter.

Sprewell’s verbal barbs weren’t limited to what he shouted while on the court. He also took credit for being partly responsible for the shakeup at the Garden a day earlier in which team president Scott Layden was fired and Thomas was hired as his replacement.

“I thought it was interesting that they would announce that on the eve of my return. Anybody can see what’s going on there. It’s not hard to figure out,” he said before the game.

Sprewell began screaming at Dolan during the first quarter, the first expletive-filled harangue making Dolan blush. Sprewell turned and shouted at Dolan several more times during the course of the game, with Dolan eventually smiling at the taunts.

Sprewell holds a grudge against Dolan for the trade that sent him to Minnesota, and he took offense when Dolan said during training camp that the Knicks had improved their character with the trade.

“All the little games he’s been playing this year, I let him do the talking earlier. I’m just glad I could do the talking now,” Sprewell said.

It was unclear what prompted Sprewell to unleash his most vicious taunts at the Knicks bench late in the fourth quarter. New York assistant coach Lon Kruger was among those yelling back at him.

“I don’t agree with what he did,” Houston said. “He should have let his performance speak for (itself).”

Sprewell finished 9-for-20 from the field and 12-for-14 at the line. Van Horn was 5-for-15 from the field and 10-for-10 at the line.

SuperSonics 116, Suns 90

Seattle — Ray Allen rejoined Seattle after missing the first 25 games and scored 24 points in a victory over Phoenix. The three-time All-Star shooting guard, sidelined because of an ankle injury, started for the Sonics but was limited to 23 minutes. He hit 8-of-13 shots and had seven assists.

Rashard Lewis added 22 points and tied his season high with 13 rebounds, while Ronald Murray came off the bench to score 17 points for Seattle.

Joe Johnson scored 21 points, Shawn Marion 19 and Stephon Marbury 17 for the Suns, who dropped to 2-9 without forward Amare Stoudemire, who sprained his left ankle when he stepped on Paul Pierce’s foot at Boston Dec. 5. Stoudemire is out until mid-January.

Pacers 79, Rockets 71

Houston — Jermaine O’Neal had 21 points and 14 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season to lead Indiana over Houston. Ron Artest added 21 points and Anthony Johnson 13 for the Pacers. Steve Francis led Houston with 23 points, Jim Jackson had 14 and Maurice Taylor had 13 rebounds for Houston.

Houston pulled within three at 59-56 with 8:52 left, but the Pacers scored 12 straight, including five by Artest, to take a 71-56 lead with 4:59 left.

The Rockets made another late charge with nine straight points to cut the deficit to 75-69 with 51 seconds left, but couldn’t get closer.

Kings 114, Grizzlies 97

Sacramento, Calif. — Peja Stojakovic scored a career-high 41 points, Brad Miller had his fifth straight double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds, and Sacramento rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat Memphis. Miller scored 17 of his points in the first half as the Kings (20-6) rebounded from the first-quarter deficit to pull with two, 54-52, at the half. Stojakovic added 15 of his points in the first 24 minutes for Sacramento, which has won four straight and 16 of its last 18.

Pau Gasol lead Memphis with 23 points while James Posey added 18. Stojakovic made five of Sacramento’s nine three-pointers, and converted 14-of-16 free-throws, including three with 11.7 seconds left to reach his career high. He was also fouled hard by Posey on a baseline drive in the final 15 seconds. Both players fell to the floor. Posey received his second technical of the game and was ejected.

Blazers 97, Mavericks 88

Portland, Ore. — Zach Randolph had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Portland past Dallas. Antawn Jamison had 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Mavericks, who have lost four straight.

Jeff McInnis had 14 points and 10 assists and Damon Stoudamire added 16 points for the Blazers, who snapped a two-game losing streak. The Blazers shot 53 percent from the field.

Antoine Walker had 19 points for the Mavericks, and rookie Josh Howard had 12 coming off the bench for Dallas.

The game was a matchup of two of the league’s worst defensive teams. Dallas had allowed 111.7 points during their last three loses. Portland is last in the NBA in opponent shooting percentage at .476.

Nets 95, Bulls 78

East Rutherford, N.J. — Jason Kidd had 18 points and led a trio of highlight-film fast breaks in leading New Jersey over Chicago. Richard Jefferson added six of his 26 points in a game-breaking 11-point run to start the fourth quarter and the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions won for the seventh time in nine games.

Kenyon Martin, who twisted his ankle on the opening tip-off, had 16 points and nine rebounds, Kerry Kittles added 14 points and New Jersey shot 48.7 percent from the field and limited Chicago to 37.2 percent in extending its home winning streak to a season-high six games.

Rookie Kirk Hinrich had 17 points and Jerome Williams 15 for the banged-up Bulls, who lost their fourth straight overall and their ninth in a row on the road.

Chicago is 3-8 since Scott Skiles replaced Bill Cartwright as coach on Nov. 24.

New Jersey used a 13-4 run midway through the third quarter and the 11-0 spurt at the start of the fourth to turn a three-point game into a laugher.

Kidd, who finished with 10 assists, provided the memories for the crowd with three plays.

Cavaliers 97, Hornets 86

Cleveland — Rookie LeBron James scored 22 points and Eric Williams scored 13 of his 16 in the fourth quarter when Cleveland rallied for a victory over New Orleans. The Cavaliers have won three in a row for the first time since April 6-10, 2002 — a span of 113 games.

James took over in the third quarter, scoring 11 points, and Williams carried Cleveland in the fourth when the Cavs stepped it up on the defensive end to turn things around and give coach Paul Silas a win over his former team.

James shot just 7-of-22, but added six rebounds, six steals and wouldn’t let the Cavs lose.

Baron Davis had 27 points to lead New Orleans. However, after making his first five shots, the Hornets’ star guard went just 4-of-22 from the field.

P.J. Brown had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets.

New Orleans, which led 70-66 after three periods, was outscored 31-16 in the fourth quarter and lost for the fourth time in five games.

David Wesley’s basket had given the Hornets a 72-68 lead early in the fourth, but the Cavs, who until last week had been struggling late in games, came all the way back from a 16-point deficit.

They took their first lead at 75-72 on Williams’ three-pointer 7:33 remaining. Williams then made a short jumper in the lane to finish off an 11-0 run that put the Cavs up by five.

With Cleveland’s defense contesting every pass and shot, the Hornets missed five straight attempts and made three turnovers on four possessions to help the Cavs’ comeback.

Spurs 111, Clippers 90

San Antonio — Tim Duncan scored 22 points and Tony Parker had a career-high 14 assists to lead San Antonio to irs 11th straight win. Parker added 19 points for the Spurs, who pulled away from the Clippers late in the first quarter and built up a lead of 23 points in the third.

Los Angeles came within 96-82 with 5:18 remaining after San Antonio’s starters sat down. Duncan (10 rebounds), Parker and Manu Ginobili (16 points) returned to the floor to quell any thoughts of a rally.

The Spurs, who lost to the Clippers Dec. 1 while playing without Duncan, set season highs with 32 assists and 55 percent shooting. Their winning streak is the best in the league this year.

Los Angeles shot a respectable 45.3 percent, the best San Antonio has allowed since the second game of the season when the Los Angeles Lakers shot 52.5 percent.

Elton Brand led the Clippers with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Corey Maggette had 19 and Chris Wilcox 14.

Hawks 93, Celtics 88

Atlanta — Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 25 points and Atlanta took advantage of a poor shooting night by Paul Pierce to beat Boston and end a seven-game losing streak. Dion Glover scored 18 points and Stephen Jackson added 16 for Atlanta.

The Hawks put extra defensive attention on Pierce, who was coming off a 31-point effort in a win over Philadelphia Sunday. Pierce made only four of 16 shots from the field and was held to 15 points, nine below his average.

Pierce was held without a field goal until the final minute of the first half, but reserves Walter McCarty and Marcus Banks helped give the Celtics a 50-38 halftime lead. Boston’s bench contributed 23 points in the half. McCarty led Boston with 16 points.

Atlanta scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and finally pulled even at 54-54 on a three-pointer by Jackson. Boston led by one — 67-66 — after three quarters.

Pierce, fifth in the league with his average of 24.0 points per game, missed his first six shots before making his first basket on a jam with 53 seconds left in the first half.

Heat 79, Wizards 73

Miami — Dwyane Wade scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead Miami past Washington. Eddie Jones added 11 points, and Lamar Odom and Rafer Alston each had 10 for the Heat, who have won five straight at home.

Reserve Rasual Butler scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter as the Heat rallied from a 52-44 deficit late in the third quarter with a 27-13 run. The scoring surge lasted into the first eight minutes of the fourth period. Larry Hughes scored 16 points for the Wizards, who have lost 10 of 12.

Jared Jeffries’ field goal with 2:48 remaining cut Miami’s lead to 73-69, but Alston hit two free throws and then clinched the victory with a steal and layup with 1:47 left.

The Wizards went on a 30-8 run spanning the final 3:58 of the second quarter and first nine minutes of the second half. Jarvis Hayes keyed the spurt with nine points, while Hughes added eight.

After keeping the Heat scoreless for a stretch late in the first half, the Wizards shut down Miami again early in the third quarter, scoring eight straight points.

Bucks 83, Pistons 78

Milwaukee — Joe Smith had 18 points, including a three-point play with 59 seconds left, and a season-high 17 rebounds in Milwaukee’s victory over Detroit. Redd had 18 points and Mason added 15 for Milwaukee, which climbed back to .500 for the first time since Dec. 2, improving to 14-14 with its fifth win in seven games.

Richard Hamilton scored 17 points, Ben Wallace had 16 points and 20 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit, which has lost six of eight. The Pistons’ leading scorer, Chauncey Billups, missed 11 of 14 shots and finished with seven points.

Billups’ jumper with 1:20 left pulled Detroit within four points at 79-75. Milwaukee’s Michael Redd then missed a baseline shot, but Smith grabbed the rebound and scored. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to give the Bucks an 82-75 lead with 59 seconds to go.