CLEVELAND — Quentin Richardson scored 27 points and Eddy Curry 24, 12 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Knicks to a 101–98 victory over Cleveland last night, snapping the Cavaliers’ six-game home winning streak.

Curry and Jamal Crawford combined for 23 of the Knicks’ 28 points in the fourth as New York, playing their second game in two nights, improved to 5–5 on the road. Maybe they should stay away from Madison Square Garden, where they are just 1–6.

Richardson, who missed Tuesday’s game in Chicago with a strained hamstring, was 5-of-7 on 3-pointers and added nine rebounds. New York made nine 3-pointers — the biggest by Crawford with 1:46 left to put the Knicks up 97–93.

LeBron James had 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting and Drew Gooden 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Curry’s three-point play with 46.5 seconds to go put the Knicks ahead by three, and New York was able to hang on despite Steve Francis missing two free throws and firing up an airball in the final 36 seconds.

Trailing by three, Cleveland had a last possession to tie it but Donyell Marshall was short on a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining. Crawford grabbed the rebound, and when the horn sounded, New York’s guard celebrated by throwing the ball high enough to hit the arena’s giant scoreboard.

James, who scored eight in the final period, blew by Richardson for a layup to tie it at 98 with 1:05 remaining. But following a timeout, Crawford drove the lane and dished underneath to Curry, who was fouled by Gooden on a dunk.

Curry missed three free throws earlier in the quarter, but he completed the three-point play to make it 101–98.

James forced up a shot over two defenders on Cleveland’s next trip, but New York was unable to take advantage as Francis missed a pair of free throws. Damon Jones’ turnover gave it back to the Knicks, but Francis again gave Cleveland hope with his miss in the lane.

But on their final trip, the Cavaliers didn’t execute properly and had to settle for Marshall’s 3.

Down by 11 points with 7:13 left in the third, the Cavaliers closed the period with a 17-2 run to take a 77-73 lead into the fourth.

James set up Jones for a 3-pointer during the spurt, which ended with James making a baseline save and the ball going to Marshall, whose 3-pointer from the left side put the Cavs up four.

The Knicks helped by making six turnovers and going 1-for-7 from the field as Cleveland took control.

Despite coming in with the Eastern Conference’s second-worst record (5–11), Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said before the game that he is convinced his team is headed in the right direction.

“We’ve just got to stay sane in mind and get on the other side of the storm,” he said.

Any threatening clouds seem to be clearing.

Richardson missed Tuesday’s loss, but he made up for lost playing time by scoring 17 points in the first half, when the Knicks shot 59% and took a 56-51 lead.

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NETS 106, CELTICS 103 Vince Carter scored 23 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, and Jason Kidd added 19 as the Nets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 106–103 victory over the Boston Celtics last night.

Paul Pierce’s jumper from the corner gave the Celtics a two-point lead with 1:41 remaining, but Richard Jefferson sank a 3-pointer 22 seconds later to give the Nets the lead for good at 104–103.

Carter added a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining after Pierce missed a long 3-pointer.

Wally Szczerbiak had a chance to tie it with 3 seconds to go, but curiously drove baseline and lost the ball out of bounds as time expired. A frustrated Pierce looked at Szczerbiak holding up three fingers to indicate how many points were needed to tie the game. Szczerbiak walked over to Celtics coach Doc Rivers and apologized as Pierce walked off the court annoyed.

Pierce scored 31 and Szczerbiak added 25 for Boston.

Trailing 92–82 with 9:32 remaining in the game, New Jersey responded with an 11–0 run, capped by a pair of free throws by rookie Hassan Adams, for its first lead since 1:09 remained in the first quarter.

Adams had a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds.

Pierce scored nine points during a 13-0 Boston run to give the Celtics their biggest lead of the game, 77–62 with 4 minutes remaining in the third. Kidd single-handedly kept the Nets in the game with 12 points in the third to close the gap to 84–76 after three.

The Celtics (5–9) and Nets (6–9) were fighting for first place in the Atlantic Division.