Stephon Marbury was set for an MRI that could determine if he'll need surgery on his left ankle.

It seemed like a waste of time to Marbury.

The Knicks' point guard sounded convinced the procedure would be necessary even as the team held out hope that may not be the case.

"I'm going to hear from them what I already know, what we've seen," Marbury said Wednesday before the Knicks' game against the New Jersey Nets. "I have a bone spur with a fracture in it. X-Ray shows that. I'm going to get an MRI, it's going to show the same thing. It's not going to show anything different."

Marbury had an X-ray last Friday after scoring 13 points in 38 minutes of a loss to Toronto. He sat out practice Saturday and a victory Sunday over Detroit, then Monday visited specialist Dr. William Hamilton, who found inflammation around a chronically fractured bone spur.