Break up the Knicks!

New York’s completely unexpected winning streak hit three with the ‘Bockers’ 111–105 win over the Nets at the Swamp on Wednesday, an outcome which briefly reminded people that when they aren’t bickering and loafing the team has a decent talent.

But breaking up the Knicks might be a reality sooner rather than later. Same goes for the Nets, for that matter. What Wednesday’s game says about both teams is very interesting considering the time of year — we have a month to go until the trade deadline and discussions are heating up around the league, and the two local clubs are right in the crosshairs.

Not that they’ll admit it publicly. The Knicks have been very active behind the scenes despite Isiah Thomas’s public insistence that they’ll play their current hand. “What we have in the locker room, we’ll go with,” is what Thomas said on Wednesday, sounding every bit like a man who intends to captain his boat all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

Nonetheless, reportedly Knicks GM Glen Grunwald has been proposing one deal after another to clubs around the league, and a couple of them might have come to fruition had they not been shot down by upper management.

New York Kremlinologists aren’t totally sure who’s been the party pooper — either Thomas or owner James Dolan. At first most presumed that Thomas was the one rejecting trades, since nearly all involved favorites Jamal Crawford or David Lee leaving town. (That’s by necessity — those are the team’s only real trading chips).

However, the Dolan argument also carries weight. An item buried in Thursday’s New York Daily News story said it was Dolan who insisted Thomas bench Stephon Marbury earlier this year, precipitating the infamous airplane incident en route to Phoenix. And if Dolan was planning on firing Thomas anyway — something that’s also been reported recently — it would make sense for him to put the kibosh on trades so his new choice could make the deals.

Regardless of who said nyet, there were some rather interesting proposals being thrown about. One deal would have sent Zach Randolph to Milwaukee for a couple of equally bad contracts and young forward Charlie Villanueva. And countless ideas have been bounced off the wall with Sacramento involving guard Mike Bibby or former St. John’s star Ron Artest.

But by far the most interesting offer leaked out of MSG had the Knicks offering Randolph to New Jersey for Vince Carter. Not because the Nets would take it, but because it hints at New Jersey’s own need to do some surgery.

While the Knicks’ third straight win is the bigger story, Wednesday’s game also was big news from the Jersey side. It was another embarrassing loss, one that comes on the heels of a 99–73 blowout against Portland. Both games were at home, with the loss to the Knicks putting the Nets at 0–3 against their cross-Hudson rivals — the first time New York has won the season series since Jason Kidd arrived.

For the year, New Jersey is 18–20, despite playing a soft first-half schedule that is about to get much harder. They’ve played 22 of their 38 games at home, and 26 of them against the weaker Eastern Conference, and have been outscored by nearly five points per game.

All of which leads to the simple conclusion that they just aren’t that good. Maybe they’ll be a little better if Nenad Krstic and Marcus Williams come back, and maybe they’ll be a little worse if Vince Carter tweaks a hammy or Richard Jefferson turns an ankle, but basically, this is what they are: A lower-tier playoff contender that may squeeze into the East’s top eight, but could just as easily end up in the lottery.

Losing to the Knicks for a third time — remember, New York has only won nine games against the league’s other 29 teams — stamped this point home rather forcefully. It seems the only question now is whom to deal and when. New Jersey management is said to be fond of both Carter and Jason Kidd, which is unfortunate since those are the two obvious trade chips for a rebuilding team.

Thus, we could see the Nets go in a different direction and trade Jefferson for size. This would likely only replace one weakness with another — New Jersey doesn’t have any good small forwards waiting in the wings to move into RJ’s role — but if you’re wedded to the Carter/Kidd nucleus, it’s the only card left to play.

Thus, we may see radically different rosters for both local teams a month from now. Yet the trade season always has far more rumors than deals, which leads us to the one move that may be making the most impact for the Knicks: Stephon Marbury’s absence.

From the “we couldn’t help noticing” file, the Knicks are now 6–8 when Starbury doesn’t play and 6–18 with him, including victories in the past three games. Jamal Crawford has taken over rather splendidly at the point, making at least one electrifying change of direction move in transition in each of the three games.

And it’s no accident big guys Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are putting up better numbers. Despite Crawford’s other weaknesses (shot selection, defense, etc.), he remains the only Knick who can throw a decent entry pass.

Marbury says he’ll have season-ending surgery for bone spurs in his left ankle pending the results of an MRI, but many have wondered if there aren’t ulterior motives. The message, some wonder, is that Marbury just doesn’t want to play for Thomas. Perhaps Marbury feels he’d rather get himself completely healthy for his contract year next season, and hopefully have a coach that he likes better by then.

In the meantime, his absence seems to have ironed out a lot of problems for the Knicks. Suddenly there’s one less player who needs the ball, and more minutes for Nate Robinson to do his thing off the pine. And lo and behold, we’ve even had a Renaldo Balkman sighting! It appears Isiah has finally remembered what a game-changing energizer the second-year forward can be, now that the playing rotation has room for him again.

Of course, we shouldn’t get too carried away — even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, and the Knicks looked about as blind as they come a week ago. Similarly, the Nets had one of their best stretches of the season right before falling on their face this week. Nonetheless, the game reinforces a big picture that had already started coming into focus — in a little while, there’s a good chance both these teams will look very different than they do now.

jhollinger@nysun.com