http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/241916p-207476c.html
Tim Thomas was airborne one second and a chalk outline the next. That's how quickly Jason Collins, the Nets' center, knocked Thomas out of last year's playoffs and revealed a softer, gentler side to the Knicks that must have made Charles Oakley sick to his stomach, not to mention Isiah Thomas.
"I probably won't be the last guy he takes out like that," said Tim Thomas, who later insinuated that Collins is a coward.

Six months have passed since Collins' Game 1 flagrant foul turned Thomas and the series on its head. Thomas suffered a hip injury that prevented him from playing in the final three games, during which the Knicks never offered what many felt was an appropriate response to seeing one of their starters forcibly removed from the postseason.

The Knicks and Nets meet tonight in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in the first exhibition game for both teams and their Hudson River rivalry has never been more heated. It also has a different look to it: Jason Kidd, recovering from knee surgery, will not play and Kenyon Martin, the "fugazy" tough guy as Thomas calls him, now plays for the Denver Nuggets.

However, a few things haven't changed, most notably Thomas' bitterness toward Collins.

"You have some guys that know how to play, you have some guys that are dirty and some guys who really don't care," Thomas said after practice in Greenburgh. "So it is what it is."

Thomas has long since recovered from Collins' hit and will be appearing in his first game since being driven out of the Meadowlands Arena in an ambulance. Ten days ago, Thomas said he was prepared to fight Martin in the ring to settle their differences. As for Collins, Thomas sounds as if an apology would suffice but he isn't expecting one.

"Some guys are cowards about it," he said.

When informed of Thomas' comment, Collins told reporters, "I'll let my game do the talking."

Collins also defended his actions, saying he made a good basketball play when he challenged Thomas, who was driving through the lane for a dunk with six minutes remaining and the Nets leading by 15. Collins' right arm hit Thomas on the right side of his face and underneath his arm, causing him to fall backward.

"I made a solid basketball play. Anybody who knows anything about basketball knows I made a good play," Collins said. "As far as the results, I mean ... I made a good basketball play."

Thomas reiterated that he thought the foul was premeditated because he's had success in the past against the Nets. He contends that Collins "took out a scorer, someone who a year before gave them trouble. They knew that."

Several days after the incident, Thomas criticized his teammates for not responding either physically or verbally to the Nets. Assistant coach Herb Williams, who played in the era of enforcers like Lonnie Shelton and Maurice Lucas and was a teammate of Oakley's, said the Knicks were not in a position to retaliate.

"You can't compare eras," he said. "Back then, you hit a guy, you keep playing and the league fines you $300. Now you do something and you might get fined $200,000 and you will get suspended. With Tim already out we didn't need, say Kurt Thomas, taking one of the Nets out and then getting suspended."

But the Knicks' passive response led many to question whether the team lacked toughness. Tim Thomas said he is confident that his teammates would stand up for him. But when Kurt Thomas was asked if the Knicks are a physical team, he didn't exactly say that the "no lay-ups rule" will be in effect this season.

"We haven't played yet so we don't know how physical we're going to be," he said. "We'll have to wait until the time comes."