THE cold stare said it all. Stephon Marbury sat on the bench in the third quarter, a towel draped over his head as he wore a frozen look of defeat on his face, a look Nets fans saw much too often last season.
Earlier in the day, Marbury was positive that good things were going to happen last night in his return to the Meadowlands. The Suns had won five straight and his Coney Island game was on fire.

As Marbury stared straight ahead, Jason Kidd buried a jumper that gave the Nets an 82-61 lead on their way to a 106-87 blowout. Kidd offered an in-your-face glance to his old bench and a get-lost comment to his former coach, Scott Skiles.