EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? The New Jersey Nets wrapped up the Atlantic Division title — and shut up the New York Knicks.

Lucious Harris matched his season high with 24 points to help the Nets win their third straight division title with a 108-83 victory over the Knicks on Friday night.

The Knicks fired up the Nets with comments that they wouldn’t mind facing New Jersey — missing injured Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin — in the opening round of the playoffs.

Richard Jefferson, who had 18 points for New Jersey, took the Knicks’ remarks to heart.

“He reads the papers a lot,” Harris said. “They were talking a lot of trash. Tonight we went out there and got our game right. Richard has been the key to this team since Jason and Kenyon have been out.”

Possible playoff opponents have tagged the Nets, 2-5 with both Kidd and Martin sidelined, as vulnerable prey without their stars in the lineup.

“We’ve had some injuries and we’ve had some other things go on,” Jefferson said. “Teams are still talking bad about us. It doesn’t matter to us. We understand that you have to prove things on the court.”

Spurs 94, Jazz 81

Salt Lake City — Tim Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds in San Antonio’s victory over Utah, the Spurs’ 17th straight win over the Jazz and fourth season sweep in a row. Devin Brown added a career-high 19 points and had seven rebounds off the bench for the Spurs, who haven’t lost to the Jazz in four years. San Antonio won its fifth straight game. Utah last beat San Antonio on Feb. 6, 2000.

Bucks 107, Cavaliers 89

New Jersey's Brian Scalabrine, left, battles New York's Nazr Mohammed for the ball. The Nets defeated the Knicks, 108-83, Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

Milwaukee — Michael Redd scored 23 points, including 13 in the decisive third quarter, to lead Milwaukee over Cleveland. Desmond Mason and Brian Skinner each had 18 points to help the Bucks take sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Celtics 111, Warriors 106

Boston — Paul Pierce scored 32 points, including the last five after Golden State tied the game in the final minute, and Boston beat the Warriors. The Celtics never trailed but squandered a 50-32 lead midway through the second quarter, letting the Warriors tie it at 106 on Jason Richardson’s three-pointer with 54 seconds left. Then Pierce hit a jumper with 46 seconds to go before Brian Cardinal missed a three-pointer and Richardson missed the follow for Golden State.

Nuggets 110, Rockets 100

Denver — Marcus Camby had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony added 20 points to help Denver defeat Houston. Yao Ming had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Houston.

Grizzlies 109, Suns 99

Memphis, Tenn. — James Posey scored 32 points and went 4-for-7 on three-pointers, and Memphis won its seventh straight game. Posey went over 30 points for the second straight game. Amare Stoudemire had 31 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Suns. Shawn Marion, who hit his first seven shots, had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Pau Gasol, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer played only 15 minutes and scored 10 points.

Hawks 95, Magic 87

Orlando, Fla. — Bob Sura scored 32 points to help Atlanta overcame a 21-point deficit in a victory over Orlando. Stephen Jackson added 21 points, and Chris Crawford had 18 for the Hawks, down 56-35 late in the first half.

Bulls 114, Clippers 110, OT

Chicago — Eddy Curry scored 27 points, including the go- ahead hook shot with 23 seconds left in overtime, in Chicago’s victory over Los Angeles. L.A.’s Elton Brand had 25 points and 19 rebounds, but missed a layup with 11 seconds left that would have tied it.

Pistons 92, Heat 84

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Chauncey Billups had 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in Detroit’s victory over Miami. Rasheed Wallace added 17 points after missing two games because of a sore back, and Detroit responded with its 11th win in 13 games.

Lakers 97, Sonics 86

Seattle — Shaquille O’Neal had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help Los Angeles run its winning streak to 11 games with a victory over Seattle. The Lakers moved a half-game ahead of Sacramento and Minnesota for the top spot in the Western Conference. Karl Malone added 14 points and eight rebounds.

T’wolves 91, Wizards 73

Minneapolis — Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, and Wally Szczerbiak added 20 to lead Minnesota over Washington. Szczerbiak spiced up an otherwise uneventful night in the final minute, when a female fan went on the court and lunged at him before Szczerbiak scurried away and security nabbed her.

Pacers 84, Raptors 64

Indianapolis — Ron Artest scored 21 points, and Al Harrington added 16 points and 11 rebounds in Indiana’s victory over Toronto.