Rookie Renaldo Balkman scored a season-high 18 points, and the Knicks used their best defensive performance of the season to beat the Washington Wizards 102–82 last night.

Quentin Richardson made five 3-pointers and added 17 points and Stephon Marbury scored 16 for the Knicks, who won for the first time this season at Madison Square Garden and snapped a three-game losing streak.

They did it in surprising fashion, smothering the league’s highest-scoring team with the kind of defensive effort that had been missing all season. The Knicks were allowing 105.6 points, second worst in the league, and hadn’t held an opponent below 100 in any of its first eight games.

But the Knicks shut down Gilbert Arenas and held the Wizards to 31.5 percent shooting while leading nearly all the way.

David Lee had 10 points and 15 rebounds — 10 in the fourth quarter — while teaming with Balkman and Nate Robinson to spark a strong bench effort that allowed the Knicks to simply outwork the Wizards.

Arenas finished with 22 points, but was only 5-of-19 from the floor. Antawn Jamison added 20 and Caron Butler scored 18 on 4-of-11 shooting.

The game was tied at 27 early in the second quarter when Robinson scored eight points in 1:38 as the Knicks opened a six-point advantage. The Knicks led the remainder of the half, with the lead growing to nine when Steve Francis found Marbury underneath for a layup with 36 seconds remaining.

Washington entered averaging a league-best 107.8 points per game, but shot only 36 percent in the first half and trailed 50–43.

The Knicks pushed the lead to 11 points late in the third quarter as Balkman scored seven points in the final 1:54. They would have led by more if they hadn’t been plagued by fouls in the period. Washington was only 3-of-9 from the floor, but made 20 of 23 free throws and headed to the fourth down 77–69.

Washington never got close in the fourth, with coach Eddie Jordan sending Arenas and Jamison to the bench after Marbury’s 3-pointer made it 97–81 with a little more than 3 minutes left. Butler stayed on the floor — and had a shot blocked by Balkman in the closing seconds.

***

NETS 100, BUCKS 87 Jason Kidd scored a season-high 25 points to pick up the slack for an ailing Vince Carter last night, leading the Nets to a 100–87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Kidd added 11 assists and eight rebounds and scored 11 straight points for the Nets in a 21–3 first-quarter spurt that gave the Nets the lead for good.

Carter, who battled flu-like symptoms all day and was a game-time decision to start, finished with 15 points, none in the fourth quarter. Nenad Krstic added 22 points.

Mo Williams had a season-high 26 points for Milwaukee, which was playing on consecutive nights. Michael Redd added 25 points for the Bucks, who were without leading rebounder Charlie Villanueva. He hurt an elbow Tuesday night and was sent back home for further evaluation.

The game was billed as a showdown of the NBA’s top two scorers, Redd (32.1) and Carter (31.2).

It was Kidd who stole the show in nearly picking up his 78th career tripledouble. The 33-year-old point guard hit his first four shots and six of his first seven, sparking the Nets’ first-quarter run, during which New Jersey scored points on 10 straight possessions. Kidd hit two layups, two free throws, a 3-pointer and jumper in building a 24-11 lead.