nypost:-- Remember that six-game winning streak that got the Knicks back to within a glimpse of respectability and actually put them in the playoff hunt?
Five straight losses later, it's just a distant memory as the Knicks have plummeted back to near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and have proven to be completely reliant on Stephon Marbury's presence in the lineup.
Eddy Curry admitted as much after the team's latest stumble, a 109-98 loss to the Hornets at the Garden on Saturday that wasn't as close as the score indicated. It was the second game in a row in which the Knicks were clearly overmatched without the injured Marbury and suspended Antonio Davis.
"You don't really realize how much you miss Stephon until he's not there," Curry said. "He's constantly knocking through the lane. When no one is out there to do that, it makes it that much tougher."
Few have felt the effect of the absence of both players more than Curry.
Without Davis' inside presence, Curry is counted on to be more of a factor on the boards, yet he finished with only three rebounds against New Orleans. Just as dam aging to the Knicks' chances was the fact that the offensive- minded center finished with six shots in nearly 26 minutes on the floor — after taking three (and making all of them) in the game's first 2:16.
"It feels like at the begin ning of games, it seems like a real point of em phasis to get me the ball," said Curry, who had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting on Saturday. "But as the game wears on, we get away from that. I've got to be more vocal and try to talk to the guards."
Marbury said be fore Saturday's game that he intends to be back from the sprained left shoul der that he suffered last Monday versus Minnesota when the Knicks return to ac tion at the Garden on Wednesday against the Kings.
This team is hurting badly without him. I can't wait for his return
