The Associated Press

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

After two days in which Tim Thomas and Martin took trash talk to new levels, the teams kept things clean.

New Jersey scored just six points over the final 4 1/2 minutes, but it was enough as New York couldn't come all the way back after trailing by as many as 14.

Game 4 is Sunday in New York.

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

Stephon Marbury scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter but shot just 7-for-23 for New York.

The atmosphere going into the game was unusually tense because of the verbal back-and-forth between 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 on 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.

NEW JERSEY (81)-Jefferson 6-20 5-6 17, Martin 9-13 1-4 19, Collins 2-4 1-1 5, Kidd 3-9 11-14 19, Kittles 5-13 0-0 11, Rogers 0-4 0-0 0, Harris 2-5 1-1 6, Armstrong 0-1 0-0 0, A.Williams 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 29-72 19-26 81.

N.Y. (78)-Hardaway 6-17 4-6 18, K.Thomas 7-13 1-2 15, Mohammed 8-11 2-4 18, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Marbury 7-23 3-6 18, Mutombo 0-0 0-0 0, Baker 1-2 0-0 2, Sweetney 0-0 0-2 0, F.Williams 2-9 1-2 7. Totals 31-76 11-22 78.

New Jersey	25	15	25	16-81
New York	15	25	15	23-78

3-Point Goals-New Jersey 4-19 (Kidd 2-5, Harris 1-3, Kittles 1-5, Martin 0-1, Jefferson 0-2, Rogers 0-3), New York 5-12 (Hardaway 2-3, F.Williams 2-5, Marbury 1-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New Jersey 56 (Martin 15), New York 50 (K.Thomas 12). Assists-New Jersey 20 (Jefferson 10), New York 18 (Marbury 10). Total fouls-New Jersey 25, New York 23. Technicals-New Jersey Defensive Three Second, Rogers, K.Thomas, Marbury. Flagrant fouls-Anderson. A-19,763 (19,763).

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Portland forward Zach Randolph won the NBA's Most Improved Player award Thursday.

Randolph, who became a starter this season and averaged double figures in points and rebounds, easily beat Cleveland's Carlos Boozer in voting by sports writers and broadcasters with 59 first-place votes and 379 points.

"I wanted to be on the All-Star team but it feels good to win this award," Randolph said with a big smile. "It feels good."

Randolph averaged 20.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

Last year, his second season in the NBA, Randolph averaged 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists.

Boozer got 12 first-place votes and 166 points, followed by Memphis' James Posey with 17 first-place votes and 137 points.

PACERS: Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal missed practice Thursday with a sinus infection and was probable for Game 3 of Indiana's playoff series with Boston.

"We have to do what we can to get healthy by tomorrow," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "If we don't have Jermaine, we're going to have to have other guys step up."

WARRIORS: Chris Mullin was promoted to executive VP of basketball operations by Golden State.

Garry St. Jean was stripped of his title as general manager and will get another job with the Warriors. Mullin has been groomed as a special assistant to St. Jean for two seasons since retiring as a player.

Mullin was a five-time All-Star while averaging 25 points each season from 1988-93. He played 13 of his 16 seasons with Golden State.