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Tuesday, Apr. 4 7:00pm ET
Marbury may be done for season | |||||
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stephon Marbury's knee and emotions finally gave out, and he may be done for the season. Marbury, who has been battling tendinitis in his left knee for the past three weeks, struggled offensively and defensively Tuesday night as the Nets lost their their third straight, 102-93 to the Washington Wizards. After the game, Marbury sat in a daze with his head buried in his hands in front of his locker. He didn't respond to the first question asked of him. Then when asked what percent is game was against the Wizards he said "I don't know" and put his head back into his hands and began to cry. Marbury shot just 5-of-14 and scored 14 points for the Nets, who fell seven games behind Orlando in the race for the eighth playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Coach Don Casey said Marbury will miss Wednesday's game against Indiana and will undergo an MRI on Thursday. "If it's anywhere close to damaged, he will not play for me. I will not play him," Casey said. "He's worked too hard for this franchise and his teammates to come up lame." Marbury also allowed Chris Whitney, who started for injured point guard Rod Strickland, to have one of his best games: 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting with six assists and five rebounds. "He can't move," Nets forward Kendall Gill said. "He's not himself anymore. He's not even half of himself out there. We're not going to the playoffs, so he might as well rest his leg before he hurts it any more. He's got his whole career to look forward to." The Wizards, winning for the seventh time in nine games, looked more like a team still in playoff contention than did the struggling Nets. Washington held New Jersey to four field goals in the final quarter. "We have nine games left. We're not going to go through the motions," Washington coach Darrell Walker said. "We're going to win as many games as we can and carry it over into next year." Keith Van Horn had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Nets, who led by as many as 12 in the first half. The Wizards tied it 68-68 with an 11-4 run in the third quarter, capped by Calvin Booth's driving fast-break dunk. The Wizards built a 75-72 lead in the last minute of the third quarter. Holding the ball for the last shot, Gill lost it out of bounds. Whitney then hit a 17-footer just before the buzzer to give the Wizards a five-point lead. The Wizards got the lead to double digits with 3:35 to play at 93-83 on two free throws by Booth. Whitney had eight of his 18 points in the final period. Aaron Williams added 15 points for Washington, which shot 53 percent (40-of-76). The Nets were hurt by the poor shooting of starting guards Kerry Kittles and Marbury, who were a combined 6-for-20.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard New Jersey Clubhouse Washington Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 102 New Jersey 93
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