Marbury Sits at End as Knicks Win

New York Knick Coach Larry Brown warned Stephon Marbury and the rest of the starters before the game: The guys who play best will play the most.

After New York gave up 34 third-quarter points, Brown went with his reserves for the rest of the game and the Knicks responded with a 121-117 double-overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

“This is a team game,” Brown said. “I want guys who play hard, try to defend, share the ball and make their teammates better.”

Nate Robinson scored five of his 18 points in the second overtime and Qyntel Woods had 18 points, making all eight of his shots from the field. New York’s bench outscored Atlanta’s, 77-17.

Jamal Crawford led New York with 21 points.

Most of the attention was focused on Brown and Marbury, who have been feuding in the media after Marbury’s comments over the weekend that he needed to score more because Brown’s way was leading to losses.

Brown responded Monday by saying he had already given Marbury more freedom than any guard he had coached.

Their bickering continued at Wednesday’s shoot-around, with Marbury saying, “I’m no longer going to allow him to say things about me and I’m not going to say anything back. I allowed him to drag me the first three or four months in the paper. But I’m not taking it no more.”

Marbury scored all eight of his points in the first half, going two for seven from the field and four for 10 from the free-throw line. He sat out the entire fourth quarter and overtime periods.

Joe Johnson finished with 36 points for Atlanta.