New York ? After spending the morning taking trash talk to a new level, Kenyon Martin made a bigger statement on the court.

Martin ended a late offensive drought with a key three-point play in the final 30 seconds, and the New Jersey Nets endured a feisty effort from the Knicks to defeat New York, 81-78, Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

“I kept my mouth shut, and let my play speak for itself,” Martin said. “I said everything I wanted to say this morning.”

The first two games in this series were lopsided in favor of the Nets, but the Knicks managed to keep this one competitive. The fans were on their feet for the final several minutes of the first playoff game at Madison Square Garden in three years.

New Jersey scored just six points over the final 41/2 minutes, and it barely was enough as New York couldn’t come all the way back after trailing by as many as 14.

“Luck had nothing to do with what we’ve done,” said New Jersey’s Richard Jefferson, who nearly had a triple-double. “We played extremely hard, we played the right way.”

Game 4 will be Sunday, with the Knicks facing a task no NBA team ever has accomplished — coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series.

Martin led New Jersey with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Jason Kidd had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Jefferson had 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

“Nobody panicked. We kept our composure,” Kidd said.

Memphis center Lorenzen Wright, left, pulls a rebound away from San Antonio forward Tim Duncan (21) and Bruce Bowen. Duncan finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and the Spurs won their first-round NBA playoff game, 95-93, Thursday in Memphis, Tenn.

Stephon Marbury scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter but shot just 7-for-23 for New York. He was fouled behind the three-point line with three seconds remaining and the Knicks down by three, but the officials ruled he was in the act of passing, not shooting, and awarded him just two foul shots.

“I’m not commenting about no officiating,” Marbury said. “We got better, but it wasn’t enough to win.”

The atmosphere going into the game was unusually tense because of the verbal back-and-forth between Knicks forward Tim Thomas and Martin that stemmed from a flagrant foul by Jason Collins in Game 1 that has kept Thomas sidelined since.

Thomas had called Martin a phony tough guy Wednesday, and Martin took part in the Nets’ morning practice wearing the back page of a newspaper with the headline “Whiny Tim” taped across his jersey. He then insulted Thomas for several minutes.

“Lock me and him in a room together and see who comes out,” Martin said.

Thomas, who has a bruised back, hip and ankle, spent the night in street clothes on the end of the Knicks’ bench. Martin never gestured to Thomas or said anything to him.

“There’s no more talking from me,” Martin said.

Spurs 95, Grizzlies 93

Memphis, Tenn. — Tim Duncan scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, and defending champion San Antonio spoiled the first NBA playoff game in Memphis by holding off the Grizzlies for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

The Spurs won their 14th straight game by defeating a Memphis team that fed off a sellout crowd of 19,351.

Hedo Turkoglu hit his first seven shots and finished with 18 points for the Spurs, while Tony Parker added 18 points and six assists, and Manu Ginobili had 12 points.

Memphis easily had its best performance in the playoffs, but it didn’t matter as the Grizzlies lost their seventh straight game. Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 18 points, Jason Williams had 16, Bonzi Wells 14 and Mike Miller 12.