By MARC BERMAN
While sitting on press row Sunday night at The Meadowlands, the TV monitor was tuned to the Yes Network showing a compelling montage of Stephon Marbury during his Nets’ days.
Wow! A young, skinny Marbury was lightning going to the hoop for layups and finishing off two ferocious alley-oop dunks. That was before ankle surgeries and knee tendonitis. That was before turf toe and turning 30 last week. All of which has lessened his explosiveness.
Marbury now relies on power to bull himself to the rim. But tonight in the fourth quarter at the Garden, with the game on the line vs. Miami, Marbury looked 25 again. He showed that old flash and dash in leading their critical victory over Miami, thanks to Marbury’s 18-point fourth quarter.
Last week I reported that Marbury has turf toe – which forced him to cancel his Caribbean vacation during All-Star weekend because he needed treatment. It’s bothering him more than he’s letting on. And Marbury’s passiveness shows on the second nights of back-to-backs.
That’s what made Marbury’s fourth quarter tonight so astonishing as the Knicks finally won a game without David Lee.
Making up for Lee’s grit was the buried Malik Rose, who played 25 minutes, bothered Shaquille O’Neal enough to keep him from dominating the night. Shaq (20 points) got in foul trouble, picking up his fifth on a charging foul vs. Rose with seven minutes left.
Rose would’ve loved a trade to a playoff team before the deadline and was offered in the Vince Carter deal. But Rose has kept quiet, kept working hard and finally got to play a big role in a big victory.
Back in January in Indiana, Rose had a temper tantrum on the bench, kicking a chair after Thomas yanked him in the final minute. Don’t believe the company line that Rose was still upset at the referee for getting called for a travel. He was also steamed at Isiah for taking him out. Rose yelled down the bench, his teammates looking on in shock. I saw the whole thing, perfectly situated in my baseline seat next to the Knicks’ bench. I was told MSG Network cut away after Rose kicked the chair and missed the rest of the tirade.
Thomas heaped praise on Malik tonight, realizing the frustration of the two-time Spurs champion.
“Not only the job he did on Shaq, but the professionalism he has showed all year,” Thomas said in the post-game. “I have probably been tougher on him in terms of not playing. The guy hadn’t played almost the whole year and he comes out tonight and plays 25 good minutes and he is not winded.”
Who knows when Malik will play as big a role again, with Lee possibly back Wednesday in Boston? Thomas is losing faith in Channing Frye, whose only value is as a jump shooter. He’s not providing enough interior D or getting offensive putbacks like Lee or scoring in the post. There was no way Isiah felt comfortable putting the 6-11 Frye on Shaq.
There was already talk in the Knicks locker room after the game about not letting up against the woeful Celtics. Several players said the Miami win will mean nothing if they can’t win in Boston. Touche.