They Need a Bit More Punch in the Lineup

The New York Knicks’ Stephon Marbury admitted his team’s 107-83 loss to the New Jersey Nets in Game 1 of their NBA playoff series Saturday was ugly.

“We lost Round 1,” Marbury said. “If it were a boxing match and you saw that first round, you’d probably think that guy was going to get killed.”

As for the Lakers’ 72-71 victory over the Houston Rockets, if it had been a football game, the offensive coordinators probably would have been fired.

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Trivia time: Kobe Bryant was the Lakers’ leading free-throw shooter during the regular season with a percentage of .852. (Shaquille O’Neal’s percentage was .490.) Who holds the team record for the best free-throw percentage in a season?

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No party animal: The Rockets had a night off Sunday before playing the Lakers in Game 2 at Staples Center tonight. But it’s a safe bet Yao Ming didn’t go out clubbing.

Earlier in the season, when Rocket assistant coach Patrick Ewing suggested he and Yao paint the town Ewing-style, Yao politely declined.

According to ESPN magazine, Yao told Ewing: “First, my mom would kill me. Then she’d kill you.”

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Now here is a wild man: Yao is among the sports figures named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong, soccer’s David Beckham and New England Patriot Coach Bill Belichick also made the list.

Belichick is profiled in the magazine by Phil Simms, who wrote:

“He’s not as dull as people think. Heck, he goes to Bon Jovi concerts.”

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Laker bashing: The San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostler, on the $25,000 life-size bobblehead Shaq dolls being sold at Staples Center: “Kobe Bryant is stunned when he hears about this, saying, ‘You mean there is a real Shaquille O’Neal?’ ”

Also from Ostler, writing about Bryant’s taking only one first-half shot against Sacramento and then chalking it up to the King defense: “That’s like crediting eradication of the German U-boat force to the Swiss navy.”

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Behind the times: The Boston Celtics’ sagging attendance has the team thinking about adding a dance team. The Celtics are the only NBA team without one.

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Looking back: On this day in 1897, John J. McDermott won the first Boston Marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes 10 seconds. On this day in 1982, Alberto Salazar won the Boston Marathon in 2:08:51.

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Trivia answer: Magic Johnson, .911, in the 1988-89 season.

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And finally: TNT televised two NBA playoff games Sunday. During the regular season, TNT never televises games on Sundays.

Before the weekend, TNT’s Charles Barkley said: “Man, I can’t believe they are going to have us in here working on Sunday. I was going to go to church.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.