Marbury Loses in Ugly Debut

Chants of “Fire Chaney” 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 first 25 points to rout the revamped New York Knicks, 111-79, Thursday night.

“Awful, awful,” Chaney said. “We played like strangers at both ends of the floor.”

The loss was the Knicks’ second in a row since acquiring Marbury and Penny Hardaway. Marbury played poorly again, scoring six points on three-for-12 shooting.

Steve Francis dominated the matchup with Marbury, scoring 27 points for Houston.

Van Gundy, returning to the Garden for the first time as coach of the Rockets, received a warm ovation before the game.

Minnesota 96, Portland 75 -- Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 14 rebounds at Minneapolis as the Timberwolves hardly looked back after opening the game on a 15-2 run against the travel-weary Trail Blazers.

Zach Randolph scored 19 points for Portland, which did not arrive in Minneapolis until 3:15 a.m. because of hazardous weather in Portland, Ore.

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Though he will miss tonight’s game at Denver and some others, Jerry Sloan plans to continue coaching the Utah Jazz while his wife, Bobbye, is treated for pancreatic cancer. ... Point guard Charlie Ward, traded by New York to Phoenix this week and then waived, is expected to sign today with the San Antonio Spurs. ... Toronto Raptor center Chris Bosh, injured during Wednesday’s victory over Cleveland, is listed as day to day because of a sprained knee after an MRI exam showed no structural damage.