New York 108, Seattle 88
Preview - Box Score - Recap

By CHRIS SHERIDAN, AP Basketball Writer
January 16, 2004

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lenny Wilkens turned Stephon Marbury loose and enjoyed a laugher in his first game as coach of the New York Knicks.

Marbury had 17 assists before going to the bench for good with nine minutes remaining in a 108-88 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.

``He was real, real cool. All he did, basically, was call timeout,'' Marbury said of Wilkens, who took over after Don Chaney was fired Wednesday.

Repeatedly looking to shoot the first open shot, the Knicks had the kind of offensive freedom not seen from the home team at Madison Square Garden in quite some time.

Keith Van Horn scored 30 points in just 28 minutes and Allan Houston added 18 in a game that turned into a blowout before halftime.

``Whenever you come into the Garden, you better bring your best basketball,'' Wilkens said.

Wilkens was introduced with no fanfare during pregame introductions. But the fans were chanting his name by the third quarter -- and again in the fourth -- after seeing an example of how he'll try to open up the offense.

Wilkens credited the team's defense for creating so many easy opportunities, but Marbury's skills in the halfcourt offense were equally important.

``I don't want them to take five steps backward,'' Wilkens said, ``so what I'll do is just watch and tweak some of the things that they are doing offensively, encourage certain things.''

In other words, let Marbury create.

Marbury had seven assists in the first quarter, Houston was 5-for-5 and the Knicks shot 64 percent to take a 34-26 lead. Michael Doleac hit a 9-foot jumper 16 seconds into the second quarter to give New York a 10-point lead, and it never slipped below double digits thereafter.

``Stephon, his aggressiveness with the ball has made a difference. He put his guys in great position to get the ball and score. It made defending them real tough,'' Seattle's Ray Allen said.

Marbury had a steal and dunk for his first field goal with 11:04 remaining in the second quarter, and Van Horn had a pair of 3-pointers off assists by Marbury in the final two minutes to give New York a 60-42 lead at halftime.

``I had some open shots, but Keith was open and his jumper was flowing tonight,'' Marbury said. ``If I go to you, it's to score. It's my main objective.''

Marbury reached a dozen assists by feeding Van Horn for a backward dunk that turned into a three-point play for an 80-49 lead, and his final three assists came in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter -- the last on a feed to Moochie Norris for a layup that made it 92-68.

``You could only wish for a game like this right now,'' said Penny Hardaway, who had eight points to reach 10,000 for his career. ``That was the game (Wilkens) was looking for, and it came at the right time.''

Marbury finished three assists shy of his career high and four short of the franchise record of 21 by Richie Guerin on Dec. 12, 1958, against St. Louis.

``We bobbled a couple. He should have had 20 or 23,'' Wilkens said.

Allen scored 23 points for Seattle, which hasn't won in New York since Nov.24, 1996.

KVH trade was a bad trade. The Knicks were clicking.....but eventually the trade turned into Eddy Curry and David Lee so what can you do? There is still SA's pick next year.

Posted by EnySpree:

KVH trade was a bad trade. The Knicks were clicking.....but eventually the trade turned into Eddy Curry and David Lee so what can you do? There is still SA's pick next year.

It made sense cause we got Nazzy + TT. But yeah KVH played well for us, I liked him but would have done the trade, because he's crazy inconsistant and is the opposite of clutch.

KVH lost a game for Dallas this year already, cause he was scared in the clutch and when he got the ball he passed it right back without even really holding it and marquise daniels was cutting. He threw the ball out of bonds because he didn't want it in his hands. KVH shoulda been a monster with his talent, instead hes just a journeyman. Steph and H20 really is what was gona be crazy for us.

`If I go to you, it's to score. It's my main objective.''

Steph freely admitting his total disregard for running the plays. Thats why he can't adjust to Brown's initiate the offense with a pass to a wing. It doesn't directly effect/improve his stats.

Posted by BlueSeats:

According to Telfair Marbs got KVH traded.

And that great offensive freedom netted us all of 33 wins last year.

And Telfair is some truth telling fairy? Who gives a $hit what Telfair tells the media about an NY trade? I don't even mind the KVH trade that yielded players that were later traded for David Lee, SA's 2006 #1, AD, and Curry.

Posted by McK1:

`If I go to you, it's to score. It's my main objective.''

Steph freely admitting his total disregard for running the plays. Thats why he can't adjust to Brown's initiate the offense with a pass to a wing. It doesn't directly effect/improve his stats.

Blinded by hatred. Is there anything that you can't spin? You are the Bill O'Reilly of this board.