Stephon Marbury took Lenny Wilkens off the hook for the Knicks’ sickening slide, blaming injuries rather than coaching.
On the verge of falling into the abyss, the Knicks (17-19) will finally be whole today. Jamal Crawford (turf toe) and Tim Thomas (calf strain) are likely to return for today’s rematch against the Bulls in a 1 p.m. MLK Day Garden matinee.
Marbury has never been accused of being overly complimentary to his head coaches. With the Knicks having lost six of seven to drop two games below .500, Marbury said Wilkens has done all he could.
“He’s in a tough situation,” Marbury said. “Whenever a coach basically has his back up against the wall and his starters are hurt, it’s hard. Other guys can’t play their roles because they’re not used to doing it. We can’t expect Jerome Williams to come out and give us 16 points a night and play the hustle game the way he plays. It’s checks and balances, and we don’t have it now.”
Marbury added, “I think (Wilkens) has done way more than he can possibly do. You could only do so much when you got guys hurt. We have to play a perfect game when we have guys out. We know we’re not going on a 9-out-of-10 win streak because we don’t have all the pieces.”
Everyone is getting in their licks on the wounded Knicks. After the Hornets upset them at the Garden last Tuesday, ex-Knick Lee Nailon said New Orleans, which has the league’s worst record, “has more talent” and plays “harder.”
Bulls center Eddy Curry, after Saturday’s last-second win, called the Knick interior “soft.” “From the comments (the Bulls) made as far as our inside is soft, that’s going to give us some fuel,” Marbury said. “If they felt that way, that’s what they’re supposed to say, but they have to come do it again.”
The excuses are over for the Knicks, who lead the dreadful Atlantic Division by a half-game over Boston and one game over Philly. If they fall out of first place today, they would fall out of playoff position altogether.
A second loss to the Bulls today would be deadly. It would give Chicago a better record and put the Knicks three games below .500. That would mean the Knicks, at best, would be .500 on Jan. 25 when they begin a vicious nine-game stretch, including a six-game Western trip, in which they can possibly go 0-9.
“There’s definitely a sense of urgency, but I wouldn’t say we’re desperate,” Crawford said. “We’re only two games under .500. It would be different if we were healthy and lost six of seven. We want to see what happens when everyone’s healthy.”
The addition of Crawford and Thomas will be huge on several levels. It will take the pressure off ailing Allan Houston, forced into too many minutes too soon after Crawford went down. If Wilkens starts Thomas, it will allow Williams to come off the bench to supply energy. And it will give Marbury more freedom to create.
“Jamal was starting to really fit in to what we were doing,” Wilkens said. “His confidence was growing, Steph’s confidence was growing. They were liking playing with each other. Then all of a sudden we lose it. It will help the team but Steph in particular.”
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Knicks vs. Bulls
Today – 1:00 p.m. – MSG; WABC (770 AM)
