EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Lucious Harris matched his season-high with 24 points to help the New Jersey Nets win their third straight Atlantic Division title with a 108-83 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

Rodney Rogers added 20 points, Richard Jefferson had 18 and rookie Zoran Planinic a career-high 11 for the injury-depleted Nets, who took the division title when Detroit beat Miami.

The Knicks provided the Nets added incentive with comments that they wouldn’t mind facing New Jersey in

the opening round of the playoffs.

A showdown between the rivals looks possible. The Nets hold the second seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Knicks are tied with Boston for seventh place

Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway each scored 14 points for the Knicks, and Tim Thomas had 13.

The Nets once again played without All-Stars Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin. They’re 2-5 with both on the sidelines.

Pistons 92, Heat 84

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Chauncey Billups had 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the Detroit Pistons’ 92-84 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday night.

Rasheed Wallace added 17 points after missing two games because of a sore back, and Detroit responded with its 11th win in 13 games. Mehmet Okur and Corliss Williamson both had 11 points.

Lamar Odom led the Heat with 18 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Eddie Jones scored 16, and Caron Butler added 13 points and nine rebounds in Miami’s second loss in its last 11 games.

Hawks 95, Magic 87

ORLANDO, Fla. – Bob Sura scored 32 points to help the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 21-point deficit in a 95-87 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

Stephen Jackson added 21 points, and Chris Crawford had 18 for the Hawks, down 56-35 late in the first half.

Juwan Howard had 33 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost 10 straight to drop to an NBA-worst 19-58.

Pacers 84, Raptors 64

INDIANAPOLIS – Ron Artest scored 21 points, and Al Harrington added 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Indiana Pacers’ 84-64 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

The Pacers, an NBA-best 56-20, pulled most of their starters in the second half after building a 15-point advantage.

The Pacers led 45-33 at halftime, with Harrington and Jeff Foster helping them to 52-38 edge in rebounds. Foster finished with 13 rebounds and nine points.

T-wolves 91, Wizards 73

MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, and Wally Szczerbiak added 20 to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 91-73 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

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.

Sam Cassell, who had 13 points and seven assists, got a huge kick out of it – running over to Szczerbiak and planting a mock hug on his grinning teammate as the crowd chanted “Wally! Wally!”

In addition to Szczerbiak, two other reserves – Michael Olowokandi (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Darrick Martin (11 points) – made significant contributions in Minnesota’s seventh victory in nine games.

The Timberwolves (53-24) stayed right behind the Lakers and Sacramento in the race for the Western Conference’s top seed.

The Wolves weren’t very aggressive – attempting only nine free throws while going 5-for-18 from 3-point range. Against this struggling, injury-ravaged opponent, they didn’t need to be.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 14 points and Gilbert Arenas added 12 for the Wizards, who own the NBA’s third-worst overall record and fell to a league-worst 7-31 on the road. They lost their fifth straight game, with Stackhouse and Arenas combining to shoot 10-for-34 from the floor.

Once again, Washington was short-handed – guard Larry Hughes, sitting out with a sore Achilles’ on both feet, was the most notable absence.

Big man Kwame Brown also was missing because of a sprained left ankle. Juan Dixon’s return from a sprained right ankle gave the Wizards 10 healthy players, with Christian Laettner and Jarvis Hayes stuck on the injured list.

Washington’s top three scorers – Stackhouse, Arenas and Hughes – have started together only four times this season. Stackhouse had been coming off the bench recently to relieve the strain on his injured knee, but he has started two straight games because Brown is out.

Lonny Baxter had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Dixon added 11 for the Wizards, who led the majority of the first quarter and were tied at 20 heading into the second – before the Wolves scored eight straight points and led the rest of the way.

A 17-4 run to start the fourth turned a comfortable lead into their biggest of the game – 81-55 with 7:10 remaining. Szczerbiak had nine points during that spurt.

Notes: Garnett broke his own Timberwolves single-season records for field goals made (762) and blocked shots (164). … Late in the fourth quarter, the Wizards had four players on the floor from the 2002 NCAA championship game – Dixon, Baxter and Steve Blake from Maryland and Jared Jeffries from Indiana.

AP-ES-04-02-04 2226EST