NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Isiah Thomas was asked after Tuesday night’s 119-112 victory over the Nuggets if it’s possible to have a rivalry with a team in another conference.

Thomas smiled – the first time I’ve seen him really smile in a long time – and said, “Yeah. When you go to the Finals.”

Let’s not get carried away. This was a good home win that Isiah really needed, and it showed how effective the Knicks can be with their dual big men playing aggressively and intelligently in the post, with the versatile Renaldo Balkman clamping down on the opponent’s best wing player, and with smart guard play.

Brandon Tierney, a loyal Newsday.com reader and occasional contributor to Alan Hahn’s Fixer Nation, said it best on 1050 last night as I was driving home from the Garden: The Knicks don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt yet. They have to put together a few performances like Tuesday night’s before we can say they’ve turned the corner at all.

But you have to admit, it was a good start.

You may remember Adrian Wojnarowski from his days as a columnist with the Bergen Record. Woj is now working the national NBA beat at Yahoo! Sports, and is worth a read. Especially his latest column, in which he basically points out that Isiah wants to kick George Karl’s ___.

In case you’re on a strange schedule – like, the schedule of an NBA writer – you can watch all the NBA highlights on your computer at Yahoo. Check this link.

I love the fact that the Bulls are 0-4. Nah, nobody was distracted by those Kobe rumors, were they?

Peja Stojakovic is alive. He dropped 36 on the Lakers Tuesday night, and it wasn’t even the most impressive line of the night. Chris Paul scored 19 and dished out 21 assists in New Orleans’ 118-104 victory at the Lakers. Twenty-one assists, people! The Hornets are an interesting team. Too bad they are stranded in New Orleans, where they’re struggling to draw 10,000 per home game even after being away in Oklahoma City for two years.

I love Chad Ford’s analysis on ESPN.com in which he makes the case that Kobe’s trade value isn’t nearly as high as the Lakers would like to believe. A few of the reasons, for which Ford provides empirical evidence: Though he’s only 29, Kobe has logged more minutes than some players who are in their mid 30s; he’s not the most efficient or effective player in the NBA based on the best statistical models available to analyze such things; he’s not a leader or a winner; and Kobe makes too much money.

Ford’s best line: “If LeBron were to suddenly be available in a trade, does anyone believe that after six months the Cavs would still be waiting to receive a serious offer? Or 10 serious offers?”

Lastly, Newsday’s Katie Strang hung out with Alan and I at the Garden last night and did a little one-on-one interview with Alan that is supposed to be posted on Newsday.com at some point today. I can’t wait. Funny, Katie never asked to interview me.