Stephon Marbury followed Knicks president Isiah Thomas' instructions to perfection.

``Isiah's been pretty much telling me I've got to start stepping on people's necks when you've got them down, so that's what I've been concentrating on,'' Marbury said.

Marbury did just that Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, scoring 15 of his season-high 42 points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to lead New York to its fifth straight victory, 110-104 over the Los Angeles Clippers.

``He's like the Energizer Bunny. I don't know if he ever gets tired,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``They've got as good of a two-man game right now as anyone in the league.''

In other NBA games Sunday, it was: New Jersey 99, Philadelphia 87; the Los Angeles Lakers 98, Orlando 96; Sacramento 115, Denver 92; Memphis 99, Minnesota 98; Toronto 84, Golden State 81 in overtime; Indiana 97, Miami 91; and Portland 95, Seattle 85.

Marbury eclipsed his season high of 40 set while with Phoenix, shooting 15-for-20 _ including 4-for-5 from 3-point range _ to give New York its longest winning streak in nearly three years.

The Knicks moved within two games of .500, the mark they've been aiming for since the December shakeup that brought in Thomas.

``We're in a nice groove right now,'' said Kurt Thomas, who added 28 points and made his first seven shots to give him 14 consecutive field goals made over two games.

Thomas finished 12-for-19 from the field to help New York improve to 9-3 under coach Lenny Wilkens.

``The team's confidence is growing tremendously,'' Wilkens said.

Corey Maggette and Elton Brand scored 28 apiece for the Clippers.

Nets 99, 76ers 87

At East Rutherford, N.J., Kenyon Martin matched his season high with 29 points, and New Jersey gave interim coach Lawrence Frank his seventh straight victory.

Frank, who replaced the fired Byron Scott as coach of the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions, moved within two wins of tying the NBA record for the best coaching start set by Buddy Jeannette of the Baltimore Bullets (1947-48) and matched by Kurt Rambis of the Lakers (1998-99). The Nets have won eight straight overall, all by 10 or more points.

Jason Kidd had his 57th career triple-double, finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Allen Iverson had 27 points and eight assists for Philadelphia.

Lakers 98, Magic 96

At Orlando, Fla., Derek Fisher stole the ball from Rod Strickland and set up Gary Payton's layup with 4.1 seconds left, leading Los Angeles past the Magic.

Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Lakers. Payton finished with 18 points, and Fisher had 15 points and three steals.

Orlando's Tracy McGrady had 35 points, six rebounds and six assists after missing two games because of back spasms.

Kings 115, Nuggets 92

At Sacramento, Calif., Peja Stojakovic made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 35 points for the Kings.

Stojakovic finished 7-of-11 from 3-point range, and was 11-of-21 overall from the field for the Kings, an NBA-best 23-4 at home. Mike Bibby added six 3-pointers and a season-high 30 points.

Rookie Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, winless in their last 15 games at Arco Arena.

Grizzlies 99, Timberwolves 98

At Minneapolis, Memphis' Shane Battier hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left to end Minnesota's 14-game home winning streak.

Mark Madsen missed an open layup at the buzzer, allowing the Grizzlies to hang on for their franchise-record 29th victory.

Pau Gasol scored 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting for the Grizzlies. Sam Cassell had 34 points and 11 assists for Minnesota, and Kevin Garnett added 30 points and 16 rebounds.

Raptors 84, Warriors 81, OT

At Oakland, Calif., Morris Peterson hit a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime for Toronto after Golden State tied an NBA record by scoring only two points in the fourth quarter.

Golden State's two-point quarter matched the NBA futility record for a period set by Dallas in the third quarter of a 1997 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The combined 20 points in the period set an NBA record for the fewest in a fourth quarter.

Vince Carter led Toronto with 22 points, Donyell Marshall added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Jalen Rose had 19 points. Jason Richardson had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors.

Pacers 97, Heat 91

At Indianapolis, Jermaine O'Neal scored 22 points and Reggie Miller had 15, all on 3-pointers, for the Pacers.

Miller hit all five of his 3-point attempts, the last with under two minutes to go for a 90-82 lead.

Lamar Odom had 25 points for Miami.

Trail Blazers 95, SuperSonics 85

At Portland, Ore., Zach Randolph had 25 points and 16 rebounds for his 29th double-double of the season for the Trail Blazers.

Damon Stoudamire added 19 points and six assists to help the Blazers to their seventh victory in eight games.