Marbury leaves Knicks before loss at Phoenix in opener of road trip
Posted: Wednesday Nov 14, 2007 5:12 AM

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.''

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.''

Upon hearing that he would back up second-year guard Mardy Collins, Marbury marched toward the front of the plane to meet with Thomas. Five minutes later, an enraged Marbury told his teammates that if he wasn't starting he wouldn't suit up for the game. But it was something else Marbury said that stunned his teammates in the back of the luxury plane.

"Isiah has to start me," Marbury fumed, according to the source. "I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know."

It is unclear if Marbury made the same threat directly to Thomas, whose first big move as team president was trading for Marbury. But clearly, the Marbury-Thomas war is officially underway and it promises to get uglier. Early yesterday, Marbury and a friend boarded a plane and returned to New York. Marbury, 30, could conceivably fly to Los Angeles today and rejoin the Knicks for tonight's game against the Clippers. Marbury faces a fine and suspension for every game he misses.

"It seems like he and I kinda go through this every November," Thomas said. "And then a couple of weeks go by and we kinda kiss and make up and we get back to the business of trying to win basketball games. Hopefully, in the next couple of days this will be resolved."