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Wednesday, Dec. 8 7:30pm ET
Marbury hands off 14 assists | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- For the second straight game, Stephon Marbury dominated one of the NBA's hottest point guards. This time, the victim was Sam Cassell, the league leader in assists and Marbury's predecessor as New Jersey's playmaker. Marbury handed off 14 assists, tying his season-high, and scored 25 points Wednesday night as the Nets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 107-90. "I don't have 14 assists every night because every night we're not making those shots," Marbury said. "I'm happy we won, but we've got a long way back to climb." The victory, coming two nights after a 14-point victory against Sacramento in which Marbury outplayed the Kings' Jason Williams, gave the Nets their first two-game winning streak of the season. Marbury shot 10-for-16 from the field and had only one turnover, Keith Van Horn added 20 points, Johnny Newman had 19 and Kerry Kittles a season-high 18. "We were aggressive, attacked the hoop and had a lot of energy," Kittles said. "We've lost so much, we have to be loosey-goosey. That's when the offense flows, the defense flows and you win games." Cassell entered the game averaging 9.2 assists, giving him a slight lead over Gary Payton (9.1 assists) of Seattle. But he had just five assists, six turnovers and 10 points in this game, his first at the Meadowlands since being traded from the Nets last season. The Bucks, playing their fourth game in five nights, could do little right. They trailed by a least 10 points for 43 of 48 minutes, and their league-leading free throw touch deserted them as they made only 16 of 28 -- a season-low 57 percent. Glenn Robinson, who missed his first seven shots, led Milwaukee with 25 points. Ray Allen had 14, the first time all season he scored fewer than 18. "We didn't play the way this team has to play to win. It was one of those games where they had everything going," Cassell said. "They shot the ball extremely well and we missed a lot of free throws." Said Allen: "We're in a funk right now. We've got to find a way to turn things around." The Nets scored 16 of the game's first 18 points, with Marbury scoring seven, as the Bucks started 0-or-8 from the field with five turnovers. Milwaukee didn't make its first basket until Allen hit a jumper with 6:15 left in the quarter, and New Jersey led by as many as 14 on a 3-pointer by Scott Burrell that made it 25-11. The Nets steadily built on the lead in the second quarter, and a 3-pointer by Van Horn with one minute left in the half gave New Jersey a 57-35 lead. The Nets' reserves accounted for 22 points in the half, and Marbury had 12 points and eight assists compared to Cassell's two points, two assists and four turnovers. The Bucks were able to work their deficit down to eight by the end of a third quarter in which they seemed to come out with a renewed sense of energy, but Marbury quickly ended their hopes when the fourth quarter began. He scored the first four points of the period, picked up his 12th assist on a feed to Burrell for an 83-69 edge and his 13th on a pass to Newman for a 3-pointer from the corner that made it 86-71. Marbury's finishing touch came moments later when he drove around Vinny Del Negro on the perimeter and went underneath two defenders for a spectacular reverse layup that made it 90-75 with 7:11 left. Marbury's 14th assist came with 2:54 left an a fast-break layup by Kerry Kittles, but Newman failed to get him his 15th -- which would have been a new season-high -- when he missed a 3-pointer from the corner seconds before Marbury left the game for good. "I don't pay attention to that. I'm just out here trying to win," Marbury said. "No one wants to lose, no one likes to lose. If they do, they shouldn't be here."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Milwaukee Clubhouse New Jersey Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 115 Denver 90
New Jersey 107
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