Marbury Missing As Knicks Loss to Suns

They just hit the road, and already the New York Knicks look lost. <br/><br/>With Stephon Marbury missing and two other starters out, the Knicks opened their four-game trip Tuesday night with a 113-102

Wednesday, November 14th 2007, 7:50 am

By: News On 6

They just hit the road, and already the New York Knicks look lost.

With Stephon Marbury missing and two other starters out, the Knicks opened their four-game trip Tuesday night with a 113-102 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

New York also was without Quentin Richardson (hyperextended right elbow) and Zach Randolph (death of his grandmother), then lost Marbury's replacement, Mardy Collins, with a mild sprain of his right foot 6 minutes into the game.

The injured players may not be back Wednesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers. And Marbury might never be back.

``It was a tough game and now we have to just concentrate on our game tomorrow,'' guard Jamal Crawford said. ``You just have to hang together and play with the guys that are out there. Everybody isn't out there right now, but other teams go through this stuff as well. We just have to hang together, stay together and we'll be fine.''

In other games Tuesday night, it was: Boston 101, Indiana 86; Orlando 103, Seattle 76; Charlotte 91, Miami 76; Memphis 105, Houston 99; San Antonio 107, the Los Angeles Lakers 92; Dallas 99, Philadelphia 84; and Portland 102, Detroit 94.

Crawford, one of the remaining New York starters, scored 21. Fred Jones added 19 and Nate Robinson 18. Eddy Curry scored 17 before fouling out with 7:45 to play.

Marbury abruptly left the team earlier in the day following a story in Tuesday's New York Daily News indicating the Knicks were trying to reduce his role or get rid of him. He told the New York Post in a text message that he probably wouldn't be in Los Angeles.

``Everybody doesn't really know what happened, so it's kind of tough to pass judgment on him,'' Curry said. ``We're going to continue to fight without him. Of course we'd love to have him back, but until then, we've just got to keep playing.''

Marbury told The Post he had permission from coach Isiah Thomas to leave the team, but Thomas would not confirm that. He did say Marbury would be welcome back.

Amare Stoudemire had his best night since his arthroscopic knee surgery six weeks ago, leading Phoenix with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Three other players scored more than 20 points for the Suns, who shot 56 percent and won their third in a row.

Still, Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said he wasn't impressed. Was it tough to get motivated to play such a depleted team?

``It might have been, but you know what, that's no excuse,'' D'Antoni said. ``I mean, we're a professional team. We should come out and play as hard as we can play and get off the floor and get better. We have to understand what we want this year, where we want to go and how hard it is to get there.''

Celtics 101, Pacers 86

Paul Pierce had 31 points and 11 rebounds, and visiting Boston remained unbeaten.

Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 11 rebounds, his sixth double-double in six games, as the Celtics (6-0) matched their best start since the 1987-88 season. Boston still is chasing its best start, 14 straight wins to begin the 1957-58 season.

Danny Granger led Indiana with 24 points, and Jermaine O'Neal added 10 points and nine boards. I It was the Pacers' fourth consecutive loss after starting the season with three straight wins.

Spurs 107, Lakers 92

At San Antonio, Tony Parker had 26 points and nine assists, and the Spurs won their fourth straight.

Bruce Bowen went 6-of-6 from 3-point range for San Antonio and finished with 23 points. Manu Ginobili added 17 points for the Spurs, who finished 13-of-27 from beyond the arc.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 18 points, well below the 30.4 he was averaging before the game. Jordan Farmar added 16 and Lamar Odom had 12.

Bobcats 91, Heat 76

At Charlotte, N.C., Gerald Wallace scored 19 points and Jason Richardson added 18.

Emeka Okafor had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who dominated the punchless Heat. Playing again without Dwyane Wade, Miami often struggled to just get a shot off and dropped to 1-6.

Shaquille O'Neal had 17 points and six rebounds, but got little help. While O'Neal shot 7-of-14, the other four starters combined to shoot 9-for-34 as Wade missed his seventh straight game due to offseason knee surgery.

Trail Blazers 102, Pistons 94

LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Portland snapped a four-game home losing streak against Detroit. The Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to four games, all at home, after dropping their first three on the road.

Tayshaun Prince led Detroit, winner of its previuos two games, with 20 points, while Chauncey Billups added 19.

Grizzlies 105, Rockets 99

Pau Gasol scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final minute, and host Memphis overcame 41 points from Tracy McGrady.

Darko Milicic added 20 points, and Mike Miller finished with 17 as Memphis snapped Houston's three-game winning streak. Rudy Gay scored 15 for the Grizzlies.

Yao Ming added 22 points for Houston and reserve Mike James had 10.

Magic 103, SuperSonics 76

Rashard Lewis scored 22 points against his former team, and Orlando handed visiting Seattle its league-worst eighth straight loss.

The SuperSonics have not won since April 7 of last season, when Lewis was still on their side and went for 35 points against the Utah Jazz. It is the worst start in franchise history, surpassing an 0-6 streak in 1969-70.

Nick Collison led Seattle with 15 points and rookie Jeff Green finished with 12.

Mavericks 99, 76ers 84

At Dallas, Jason Terry scored 12 of his 25 points during the Mavericks' big third-quarter run.

Dirk Nowitzki added 21 points, 12 rebounds and a career high-tying eight assists for the Mavericks.

Andre Iguodala had 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Philadelphia, which has lost three straight. Samuel Dalembert finished with a season-high 18 points and Willie Green added 16.