Last night we went to Mavs/Knicks at the Garden, the first hoop game at MSG since Sunday’s brawl at the high school city championships. There didn’t seem to be any extra security on-hand, but then again, high school kids are mostly priced out of Knicks games anyway … The Mavs picked up the W, 92-77, getting 24 points apiece from Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard … The Dallas locker room pre-game was pretty much Jason Terry holding court for anyone with a mic or a camera, J-Ho tuning the world out with his iPod, and more than a couple of guys walking around with iced-out knees and flip-flops. Then Dirk walks in silently, and out of nowhere shouts “HEY!” at Erick Dampier like he hadn’t seen him in years … During warm-ups, Jerome James spent some time working on his crossover and breaking a ballboy down off the dribble — since, you know, that’s his game. JJ eventually went off his leg and out of bounds. A minute later, Malik Rose and Eddy Curry were going head-to-head, shooting threes and deep jumpers. Guess you gotta get it out of your system before tip … The Knicks’ game plan from jump: feed Curry down low and let him to go work on Dampier. E-City scored the first time, got swatted by Damp the second, got pinned by Howard the next possession, then scored the fourth time … Overall it wasn’t a great night for Curry, who finished with 22 points and 12 boards but missed a ton of easy buckets and was 4-for-12 from the stripe. In the first half a fan screamed at Eddy on the line, “Bend your knees!” He didn’t, and bricked. And for the record, Eddy is a 64 percent career free throw shooter. Later in the half, someone yelled, “Get hungry, 34! Get hungry!” Somehow we don’t think that’s the problem … One of the Dime crew watching at home sent us this during the game: “The cameras were on Mark Cuban, and Clyde Frazier goes, ‘I should send him over a few boxes of my Just For Men. It will take care of those gray hairs.’” First, props to Clyde for the crack. Second, that’s a great pitchman at work … Natalie Portman was in the crowd. The guys in the place went nuts when they showed her on the big screen — both the Star Wars geeks and those who just think she’s hot … So we dropped our updated NBA Hit List, where the Cavs cracked the Top 4 and the Bobcats barely cracked the Top 30, and what happens? Charlotte knocks off LeBron and Co. in overtime on Tuesday. But we probably should have seen it coming. The ‘Cats have made their season on beating the League’s top-level teams and losing to everyone else. LeBron went for 37 points, but missed two shots in the last 10 seconds that would have won it in regulation, and his team blew a 10-point lead in the fourth. Adam Morrison (13 pts) hit the go-ahead trey in the OT, and Gerald Wallace finished with 27 points and 11 boards. “Gerald Wallace kicked our behind,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said afterwards … After dropping two in a row, the Suns won their first game since the big win over Dallas last week, taking out the Wolves at home. Foul trouble limited Amare Stoudemire to just 4 points, but Raja Bell scored 22 and Steve Nash had 18 points and 11 dimes … The Jazz snapped its four-game losing streak with a comeback win over the Warriors. Down double-digits in the third, Utah rallied behind Carlos Boozer (25 pts, 21 rebs) and Deron Williams (10 pts, 17 asts). Facing Jason Richardson on a 1-on-1 break, Deron made J-Rich touch the floor by coming at him full speed and stopping on a dime to change direction … Later in the fourth, Baron Davis (20 pts, 7 asts) hit a three and looked like he was about to hyperventilate — apparently that mountain air was getting to him … After the Jazz got the lead, Paul Millsap of all people hit a three with seven seconds left to beat the shot clock and ice it … Carmelo dropped 30 on the Nets in a win where Vince Carter (29 pts) committed a crucial turnover and missed a wide open three in the last minute … The Pistons didn’t need Chauncey Billups (groin) last night, piecing the suddenly-bad-again Sixers with Flip Murray (12 pts, 7 asts) running point. Tayshaun Prince went for 30 points, and Chris Webber had 9 points and 7 bounds against his old team. This one was in Motown, so C-Webb didn’t get booed … In the first half Rodney Carney went for the highlight reel on a breakaway, only he blew the dunk and it went back past halfcourt while both benches were cracking up … In college ball, Big Baby Davis announced he’s going pro. This time a year ago, everyone was talking about LSU’s 300-plus-pounder during the Tigers’ Final Four run. This year LSU didn’t even make the NIT despite Davis’ 17 points and 10 boards a night, and with all the Kevin Durant/Greg Oden hype and other stars emerging on better teams, he was almost lost in the shuffle. In the minds of pro teams he’ll have to deal with the Mike Sweetney Stigma, but the Big Baby is polished in the paint and can get buckets … In the women’s NCAAs, defending champ Maryland was upset in the Sweet 16 by Ole Miss. The Terrapins actually weren’t even a No. 1 seed this year — those spots were taken by Duke, North Carolina, Tennessee and UConn, all of whom advanced on Tuesday. Candace Parker went for 30 and 12 in UT’s win over Pitt … We usually give you the goods on anything sneaker-related, but here’s something a little left field … We’re out like Big Baby …