nypost:-- Stephen Marbury vowed yesterday: The time is now to make or break.
Returning from a sprained left shoulder that kept him out three games, the Knicks captain rides in on his white horse tonight to try to save the season and lift them back into a playoff race.
"We definitely have to make our push," Marbury emphatically said after practice. "Right now is the time to make our push."
A big push. The Knicks, who've lost five straight, the last three without Marbury, are tied with Toronto for the third-worst record (13-26) and are five games out of the eighth seed.
If the Knicks don't reverse course now, starting tonight vs. the Kings, February, March and April will be lonely times at the Garden.
The Kings, meanwhile, could be in chaos. The deal that would have sent Ron Artest to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic appeared off last night after Artest reportedly turned it down. (Stojakovic had already been told he was a goner).
Brown knows the margin for error is over, with a four-game scheduling lull (Sacramento, Orlando, Philly, Atlanta).
"We got to [make a push]," Brown said. "We're halfway through the season."
There is a sliver of hope only because of this new appreciation for Marbury's value to this club after missing his first three games since becoming a Knick two years ago. How did they look without him? Horrible.
"I'm dying to get back on the court," Marbury said. "I'm urgent to get back. What the guys went through playing without me, it was a tough task. I think we learned something from it, that we definitely have to play more together. I think I could help."
No kidding. Larry Brown is singing a different tune about Marbury nowadays. The feuding is over for now.
Marbury was brilliant during the Knicks' six-game winning streak. In a nine-game stretch, from the Milwaukee game to Minnesota, when he was injured by a blistering pick from Wally Szczerbiak, Marbury averaged 22.3 points, 9.6 assists, 2.4 turnovers and shot 47 percent. He also made 47 of 54 free throws.
It was arguably the finest nine-game stretch of his career, and it all started right after the no-field goal fiasco in Orlando when the coach and captain stopped speaking and started sniping at each other through the media.
Marbury, booed at the Garden twice last month, admitted he has "evolved" as a player.
"I think the fans understand what I mean to this team," Marbury said. "I think when we were losing, they weren't seeing me play the way they normally had seen. Even though it was a process for me making adjustments, doing some things coach wanted me to do, coach got familiar with how I played and what I'm capable of doing to help the team and I started to evolve. I never, ever second-guessed our fans. I know our fans are the most knowledgable fans in the game. I know they understand."
