Stephon Marbury was up to his old tricks last night against the Houston Rockets, and it just may have been the thing to bring his team down.

Marbury, who only last month had a verbal war with ex-teammate Kevin Garnett through the press, taunted Rockets point guard Steve Francis during a timeout in the second quarter according to a report by Janny Hu in the Houston Chronicle.  Marbury told Francis that he (Marbury) was the real All-Star on the court, but the self-confessed All-Star's comments would come back to haunt him as he went cold from the field, shooting 9-for-23 the rest of the night.

"You never want to blame a back-to-back for a loss, because it can be done," said Marbury, who still finished with 32 points. "You've just got to focus. The last game is in the past, the next game is the future, this game is the present."

"It was the battle of the No. 3s," Rockets guard Moochie Norris said. "No. 3 vs. No. 3. It was fun for me to watch. (Marbury's) the leader. He going to talk to his teammates and try to motivate them. That's his job, he's the point guard, he's like the second coach. That's the job he has to go out there and do."