Stephon Marbury

Mike Bibby scored 40 points, Kenny Thomas had 6 points in overtime to cap his first career triple-double, and the Sacramento Kings overcame Kobe Bryant's 51-point performance for a 118-109 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last night in Sacramento, Calif. Brad Miller scored 16 points and forced overtime on a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left in regulation for the Kings. Pistons 105, Knicks 79 -- Richard Hamilton scored 26 points, Rasheed Wallace added 23, and visiting Detroit beat undermanned and overmatched New York for its sixth straight victory.

Amare Stoudemire scored 34 points to lead the surging Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 121-114, over the Minnesota Timberwolves last night in New York. Wilson Chandler added 21 points and Raymond Felton had 18 points and 11 assists for the Knicks, who won for the 10th time in 11 games and improved to 13-9, the first time they’ve been four games over .500 since finishing the 2000-01 season with a 48-34 record. The key has been Stoudemire, who has surpassed 30 in every game during the winning streak, the first Knicks player with five straight 30-point games since Stephon Marbury from Feb. 4-11,...

A chorus of "Fire Chaney" chants echoed through Madison Square Garden on a night that was supposed to be all about Stephon Marbury's home debut and Jeff Van Gundy's return. Van Gundy's Houston Rockets scored 23 of the game's first 25 points to humiliate the revamped New York Knicks, 111-79, last night. The buzz that filled the building turned into boos in a matter of minutes as coach Don Chaney's team came out flat. The first "Fire Chaney" chant began with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter after the Knicks fell behind, 19-2.

The time has come to appreciate the lovable spunk of this Celtics team. There is no Kevin Garnett, nor is there a Leon Powe. James Posey and P.J. Brown are home watching on the high-def. The entire experience is different this year. "I told them, 'We're not the prettiest team, guys, clearly,' " said Doc Rivers. " 'We're grinders. There were a lot of times we could have quit and given up, but we didn't.' " You mean, like, when they were down 14 with 8:48 to go? Or when they were down 10 with 5:39 left?

Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points, 12 in the third quarter when the game turned into a rout, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Knicks, 108-96, last night in New York. Andre Miller added 16 points and former Knicks center Marcus Camby had 10 points and 18 rebounds for the Nuggets, who pulled away in the second half and improved to 3-1 on their season-high seven-game road trip. Stephon Marbury scored 25 points for the Knicks, who have lost two straight and have the NBA's worst record.

People said this Marbury thing was a roll of the dice, and last night Luck was a fine and proper Lady for the Boston Celtics. Playing in his first legitimate game of high-level basketball in more than four months, the controversial ex-Timberwolf, ex-Net, ex-Sun, and, most famously, ex-Knick made a major contribution as the Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers, 104-99, at TD Banknorth Garden. Stephon Marbury was on the floor as the Celtics expanded a 77-75 three-quarter lead to a 92-79 margin that was enough of a cushion for them to withstand a late Indy surge.

The Knicks managed to keep it competitive. The Nets were still the better team. Kenyon Martin ended a late offensive drought with a key 3-point play in the final 30 seconds, and the New Jersey Nets outlasted a feisty effort from the Knicks to defeat New York, 81-78, last night for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series. After two days in which the injured Tim Thomas and Martin took trash talk to new levels, the teams kept things clean and had the fans on their feet for the final several minutes of the first playoff game in New York in three years.

Once again, the Nets were the source of the hardest fouls and the best basketball. The mismatch of the Knicks-Nets series stuck to form last night, host New Jersey showing its superiority over a banged-up opponent in a 99-81 victory. The Nets opened a 2-0 lead in the playoff series. The Knicks weren't as docile as in the opener when there was no response after Tim Thomas was flagrantly fouled and injured, but they didn't put up much of a fight, either. Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin powered the Nets, who led by as many as 22 points in defeating the Knicks for the 14th...

Jason Kidd tied a season-high with 15 assists and Richard Jefferson had 20 points to help the New Jersey Nets set a franchise-record with their 12th straight victory, 91-72, over the Raptors last night in Toronto. New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank improved to 11-0. Frank set an NBA record for the best start to a coaching career with his his 10th straight win Wednesday. Jazz 92, Knicks 78 -- Stephon Marbury did not have a happy 27th birthday, getting booed at Madison Square Garden in a fiasco.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored Sacramento's final 6 points and sealed the victory with a blocked shot in the final seconds as the Kings beat the Suns, 118-117, last night in Phoenix. Abdur-Rahim broke a 114-114 tie when he made an 8-footer in the lane with 30 seconds left. Leandro Barbosa answered with a 3-pointer to put the Suns up, 117-116. Abdur-Rahim then hit two free throws with 13.3 seconds left for the final margin. He also blocked a layup by Boris Diaw -- Phoenix's last good attempt to pull out the win. With 0.7 seconds left, Jim Jackson inbounded the ball to Brian...

WALTHAM - They are the defending NBA champions, but the Celtics' profile has undergone some alterations in recent days. Now they are self-described "underdogs" and their task an "uphill battle" as they begin the playoffs by hosting the Chicago Bulls today. The shocks to the system hit early Thursday morning, as Kevin Garnett was declared out, his right knee failing to recover from a Feb. 19 injury. Then president of basketball operations Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack - he is recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital and expected to return to work.

People said this Marbury thing was a roll of the dice, and last night Luck was a fine and proper Lady for the Boston Celtics. Playing in his first legitimate game of high-level basketball in more than four months, the controversial ex-Timberwolf, ex-Net, ex-Sun, and, most famously, ex-Knick made a major contribution as the Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers, 104-99, at TD Banknorth Garden. Stephon Marbury was on the floor as the Celtics expanded a 77-75 three-quarter lead to a 92-79 margin that was enough of a cushion for them to withstand a late Indy surge.

LOS ANGELES - Not long after getting Mikki Moore signed yesterday, the Celtics were able to begin envisioning what Stephon Marbury would look like in their uniform, too. After months of being embroiled in a soap opera, the Knicks worked out a buyout of Marbury's $21 million contract yesterday. Two NBA sources said that once the two-time All-Star clears waivers - which is expected to be Friday morning - he will sign with the Celtics for a prorated veteran minimum of $1.3 million for the rest of the season.

The New York Knicks needed Stephon Marbury to play, then suspended him a game and docked him nearly $400,000 in salary yesterday after claiming he refused. The disgruntled guard insists he never told coach Mike D'Antoni "no" and plans to appeal. Just another chapter in Marbury's turbulent tenure with his team. D'Antoni wouldn't go into specifics of their conversation that took place before Wednesday's loss in Detroit, though he made it clear he asked the point guard to play because the Knicks were shorthanded.

Vince Carter gave Toronto fans a brand-new reason to boo him. Jeered every time he touched the ball, Carter scored 39 points against his former team - including the winning points in overtime - as New Jersey rallied from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Toronto, 129-127, last night. Carter sent the game to overtime by draining a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation, capping a stretch in which he scored 12 consecutive points for the Nets. Anthony Parker returned the favor, nailing a turnaround 3-pointer from the corner with 2.9 seconds left in the extra...

Stephon Marbury doesn't care. He says the New York Knicks can get rid of him. In remarks filled with contradictions and accusations yesterday, the point guard stressed that the team's problems last year went well beyond him. "I was being blamed for losses and I wasn't even playing," Marbury said. The Knicks didn't win with him, and they couldn't win without him. As they prepare to open their first training camp under Mike D'Antoni today in Saratoga Springs, it's still not clear which way they'll try to do it this season.

Larry Brown finally got his first victory in six games as New York's coach, with rookie Channing Frye scoring 19 points in the Knicks' 105-95 win over the host Sacramento Kings last night. Stephon Marbury had 17 points and seven assists for the Knicks, who jumped to a big early lead and hung on to halt their worst start in 18 years during Brown's first season in charge of his hometown team. Brown's club won by making 54 percent of its shots. The Knicks wasted second-half leads in both of their last two games, and blew most of a 19-point lead in Sacramento, but hung on when the Kings...

From the jawing with Spike Lee and Chris Rock to the postgame news conference with his daughters on his lap, Kobe Bryant enjoyed every minute of his return to Madison Square Garden. Making history made it even better. Bryant scored 39 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the New York Knicks, 95-90, yesterday. Bryant added 11 rebounds and eight assists in his first game at the Garden in nearly two years.

At the risk of overstating the obvious, does anyone think the Celtics are in for another 45-point rout of the Knicks this afternoon at Madison Square Garden? Didn't think so. New York and Boston meet for a Martin Luther King Day matinee at the World's Most Famous Arena and Celtics coach Doc Rivers can't decide which concerns him more: The improved play of the Knicks or the early afternoon start (and the fact that New York isn't exactly a sleepy little burg). It's the first meeting between the teams since the Celtics' clobbered the Knicks, 104-59, Nov. 29 in Boston.

From the jawing with Spike Lee and Chris Rock to the postgame news conference with his daughters on his lap, Kobe Bryant enjoyed every minute of his return to Madison Square Garden. Making history made it even better. Bryant scored 39 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the New York Knicks, 95-90, yesterday. Bryant added 11 rebounds and eight assists in his first game at the Garden in nearly two years.