The Knicks were in no mood to be swept in the season series by the Boston Celtics, and they summoned some unusual feistiness in getting that point across.

In a game that featured seven technical fouls and a flagrant foul in the first half, the Knicks made one of the NBA’s hottest teams look rather ordinary last night in a 107-82 victory over Boston.

Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 21 points, two of them coming when he passed the ball to himself off the backboard, caught it, and dunked. Trevor Ariza added 14 points, and Tim Thomas and Maurice Taylor had 13 apiece.

The Knicks won for the third time in four games, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive. A big test begins today as New York travels to Seattle to start a four-game road trip, playing its fourth straight game against a division leader. New York began the night in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 3 1/2 games behind eight-place Philadelphia.

Boston had its most lopsided loss of the season. It was just the second loss in 13 games for the Celtics since they reacquired Antoine Walker, and they looked nothing like the offensive juggernaut that had surpassed 100 points in six straight games.

Walker shot just 5-for-20, Paul Pierce was 2-for-5, and Ricky Davis shot 2-for-10 as the Celtics shot only 38%, had their seven-game winning streak snapped, and were held to a season-low point total.

The Celtics had won their previous three meeting with New York by an average of almost 19 points, but it became clear early on that the Knicks seemed to resent those beatings.

Crawford and Davis picked up double technical fouls for yelling at each other less than two minutes into the game, and Pierce and Thomas received double technicals moments later after another brief verbal spat. With the game less than 3 minutes old, Raef LaFrentz was assessed a flagrant foul for taking too big of a swipe at Michael Sweetney.

The Knicks led by as many as nine in the first quarter, let Boston get back within two points midway through the second quarter, then used a 19-1 run to take a 54-34 lead. Jerome Williams and Maurice Taylor ended the run with dunks, Williams hanging and swinging from the rim after his.

Boston got the deficit down to nine points with 2:28 left in the third quarter, but the Knicks closed the period with a 9-1 run and then stayed comfortably ahead throughout the fourth quarter.

The Knicks were without center Kurt Thomas for the second straight game. Thomas was hospitalized for two days after he developed a fever from an infected elbow. He said he was hopeful of playing tonight at Seattle.