NBA Game Summary - San Antonio at New York

03.21.2005

New York, NY (Basketball News) - Stephon Marbury scored 31 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds to lead the New York Knicks over the San Antonio Spurs, 88-75, at Madison Square Garden.

The Spurs played their first game without injured forward Tim Duncan and it showed. Duncan suffered a severely sprained right ankle on Sunday night in a loss at Detroit. He is expected to be out 2-to-4 weeks and was placed on the injured list earlier in the day.

San Antonio scored only 13 third-quarter points and was held without a field goal for nearly 11 1/2 minutes during a span that bridged the final two quarters. During that drought, the Knicks went on a 25-1 run to put the game away.

Malik Rose scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his first game against his former club, as the Knicks have won two of three. Rose, who was dealt from the Spurs to the Knicks in a trade that sent center Nazr Mohammed to San Antonio, ended one point shy of his season-high.

Rose and Marbury combined to score 21 points during the run, which turned a 59-53 deficit into a 78-60 cushion. Marbury tallied the first 12 points and Rose scored the final five points of the burst, ending it with a jumper at the 5:03 mark of the fourth.

Devin Brown’s breakaway layup ended the Spurs’ scoring drought with 4:21 remaining, but San Antonio never got within 10 points the rest of the way, suffering its second straight defeat.

Brown had a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who have dropped three in a row on the road. Tony Parker added 14 points, scoring only four points after starting the game with the first 10 points for San Antonio. He also had six assists.

Marbury had 15 third-quarter points for the Knicks, who trailed for much of first 2 1/2 quarters. Rose turned it on the fourth, recording 10 points in the stanza.

New York was also shorthanded, playing without starting center Kurt Thomas due to a left elbow bursitis that has developed an infection. The Knicks were also without reserve guard Anfernee Hardaway, who was placed on the injured list with a hamstring ailment.

As a result of Thomas’ injury, Michael Sweetney moved from starting forward to starting center and Rose earned his first start at forward with New York.

Mohammed ended with seven points and seven rebounds in his return to New York.

The Spurs activated Sean Marks off the IL to replace Duncan on the roster...New York activated Jackie Butler off the IL to replace Hardaway on the roster...Butler, who was playing high school ball a year ago and went undrafted, made his NBA debut, scoring his first points on a layup with 47 second remaining. He was playing in the CBA before being signed by the Knicks...The 13 points by the Spurs in the third quarter tied an opponent low for the Knicks...San Antonio fell to 1-3 without Duncan this season...Tim Thomas ended with 14 points and seven boards for the Knicks, who ended a two- game home slide.

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