Knicks 100 – T’Wolves 87
The new Knick star outshone the old Knick star. Stephon Marbury is the Knicks’ heart and soul, as Latrell Sprewell once was back in the day.
The Garden would miss Sprewell if it weren’t for one Brooklyn point guard whom Isiah Thomas brought to town last Jan. 5.
Marbury stole the night and the game. He carried the Knicks home with a 15-point fourth quarter as he overshadowed Spree’s second homecoming in a 100-87 slugfest victory at the Garden.
Even Sprewell, who finished with 22 points but none in the fourth quarter, was impressed.
” Steph is a lot like myself,” said Sprewell, who received a mixture of boos and cheers upon his introduction.” The fans really like his style of play. He has a lot of” I don’t want to say cockiness” but he has a lot of confidence in himself. They really relate to that.”
The Knicks (16-13) moved three games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2000-2001 season and equaled Minnesota’s win total. When it was over, Kevin Garnett walked to Marbury and hugged his head affectionately. The two former teammates have not always gotten along.
As the Knicks pulled away from the Wolves on a stunning 19-2 run late in the fourth quarter, the Garden erupted in a series of standing ovations. It was the polar opposite of last December when the Wolves beat the Knicks and Sprewell spent the final minute cussing out owner James Dolan and the Knick bench.
Last night, the Knicks played ferocious defense, especially on Garnett, and Marbury ferociously drove to the hole down the stretch. Marbury finished with 32 points (12 of 19), had 11 assists, two steals and seven rebounds in the Knicks’ third straight win. In their prior win in Orlando, he racked up 34 points.
A chat last week with Isiah, upset with his defensive work, has spurred the Coney Island Kid, on the verge of a career year.” My talk with Isiah (last week) set things off,” Marbury said.” His thing was don’t take your hand off the wheel when you’re driving a car.”
The Knicks trailed 83-81 with 4:53 left before their defense reached a new level and Marbury erupted. Marbury’s 3-point play” a spinning driving layup past Trent Hassell that included a bump from Garnett” put the Knicks up 90-85 with 2:53 left.
Sprewell came down and missed a runner. And Marbury all but iced it as he pumped in an 18-footer from the left side, making it 92-85 with 2:23 left. For good measure, Marbury rolled in two more free throws after Garnett wrapped him up on another foray. Marbury then intercepted a pass as the Wolves completely fell to pieces.
” I’m not saying I’m going to score 30, 40 points but I’m going to put pressure on the defense,” Marbury said.” And it makes our defense go at a faster pace.”
Said Kurt Thomas,” He’s giving it to us night in and night out. He’s getting by a lot of people.”
With Kurt Thomas playing with a bloody lip, he contained Garnett, who had 11 points after three quarters and finished with a modest 17. Thomas banged his lip in a head-to-head collision with Sprewell. The game was as physical as any this season and the Knicks held Minnesota to 40.2 percent shooting. Sprewell, 0 for 4 in the fourth, shot 9 of 23 but played with the mean scowl New Yorkers used to love.
” It was intense out there,” said Thomas.
” Everybody wanted this game, it was a big game for everybody,” said Allan Houston, who looked tense in scoring just seven points on 2 of 11 shooting.” It’s two teams who want to be at the top of their conferences.”
Jerome Williams led the hustle brigade, diving four rows into the seats to try to save a ball from going out of bounds. He failed but the point was made.