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GREENBURGH, N.Y. - As much as Tim Thomas tried to downplay the significance of facing the Nets in tonight's preseason opener in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the Knicks' forward couldn't hide that he's still harboring sore feelings about the way his season ended against New Jersey last season.

With the Nets comfortably ahead in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Thomas drove hard to the basket to attempt a one-handed dunk and was taken down by New Jersey's Jason Collins on a hard foul. Thomas was slammed to the floor, suffering back and ankle injuries that knocked him out for the rest of the series, which the Nets swept in four games.

Thomas thought Collins' play was "dirty" and questioned his teammates for not retaliating. No one on the Knicks promised Wednesday to get their revenge tonight.

Still, Thomas gave the impression the matter isn't settled yet.

"How do you settle it?" he asked.

Certainly not with an apology. Thomas said he doesn't want or expect one - not that one is coming - and if Collins did approach him, "It wouldn't have been nice."

"Some guys are cowards about it," the former Paterson Catholic star said. "It is what it is. That's why I probably won't be the last guy he takes out like that."

Thomas believes Collins intended to injure him because he played well against the Nets with Milwaukee in the 2003 playoffs.

When asked if Collins "has begun to develop a reputation" as someone who tries to injure opposing players, Thomas replied, "Has? Has?" "You have some guys that know how to play, you have some guys that don't and you have some guys that really don't care," Thomas said.

That said, Thomas stopped short of threatening Collins or challenging him to a boxing match, as he did with former Net Kenyon Martin last week - another feud that stemmed from the Collins' foul.

For his part, Collins declined to escalate the war of words. "I'll let my game do the talking," he said.

Thomas' teammates still don't seem to know how to deal with the situation.

"Tim expected a little more from us," Knicks' forward Kurt Thomas said. "We were already undermanned. We were already down. By us going out there and basically challenging someone or getting into a fight, we would lose other guys."

Could it carry over into tonight or later this season? "We'll see," Kurt Thomas said. "We'll just wait till the time comes."

If not for the Collins-Tim Thomas dispute, the Knicks-Nets rivalry wouldn't have much juice left. Financial constraints forced the Nets to trade Martin and Kerry Kittles, and Jason Kidd won't play tonight because he's recovering from knee surgery.

Of the new-look Nets, Tim Thomas asked, "Who are they?" Thomas insisted, however, that tonight's game is more about getting a chance to play against another team rather than which team they are facing.

"Right now, for us, it's just to find ourselves, get a nice rhythm, see where we're at," Thomas said. "It's our first time playing against somebody other than ourselves. That's what we're looking forward to."

KNICKS BRIEFS: Kurt Thomas was named a tri-captain Tuesday, joining Allan Houston and Stephon Marbury. ... The Knicks' preseason game against San Antonio at 1 p.m. Saturday at Madison Square Garden will be televised on MSG Network.