After being relegated to the bench for all but 12 minutes of last night's 94-89 loss to Orlando at the Garden, Knick guard Steve Francis clearly was upset but doing his best not to say anything inflammatory.

"I'm definitely confused," Francis said about his limited minutes. "I don't really know what it is."

With the Knicks fighting for a playoff berth and Jamal Crawford done for the year, it seemed Francis would be the guy coach Isiah Thomas turned to as Stephon Marbury's backcourt mate. Instead, Francis has seen his minutes dwindle in the last two games. He played 21 minutes in Cleveland on Saturday.

"It's hard," Francis said. "Being a veteran, last week playing 44 minutes to this week playing two minutes. It's tough, but it's the nature of the business."