nydailynews:Stephon Marbury's left shoulder dangled to his side as a team official helped him place a necktie over his head. When Marbury struggled with his suit jacket, a trainer was there to offer assistance.
Watching Marbury attempt to dress yesterday was like watching the Knicks try to execute their offense against Minnesota's 3-2 zone in a 96-90 loss to the Timberwolves at Madison Square Garden: It was a painful exercise on both counts and a troubling sign for Marbury and his teammates.
X-rays taken at the Garden were negative and the Knicks are calling the injury a shoulder sprain to Marbury's nonshooting arm. Marbury will be reevaluated today, but it is unlikely he will be available for tomorrow's game in Chicago. The fear is that he could be sidelined for a week to 10 days.
"It hurts," Marbury said. "I knew I was hurt when I went back in and I couldn't get my arm to go up without any pain. I knew I was hurt. I took a chance of making it worse and I didn't want to do that."
Marbury has earned a reputation of playing through pain. In fact, yesterday Marbury appeared in his 280th consecutive game, the fifth-longest active streak in the NBA.
But Marbury's run of good luck may have ended when he ran into Szczerbiak's pick near the Knicks bench with 8:18 remaining and the Knicks trailing 76-71. Wolves point guard Marko Jaric was driving to his right and Szczerbiak, guarded by Quentin Richardson, moved into Marbury's path to set a high screen. Szczerbiak braced himself as the two collided.
Marbury never saw Szczerbiak and fell hard, staying down for several seconds before being substituted.
"It was a dirty pick, period," Marbury said afterward.
Marbury let Szczerbiak know how he felt when he screamed at him from the bench, saying, "We have a beef."
"Yeah, he said we have a beef," Szczerbiak said. "I was like, whatever."
When Marbury was asked for a reason why he called it dirty, he replied: "That's how I felt. That's why I said it."
