Lenny Wilkens met with Marbury yesterday and told his point guard to slow the tempo at times and try to get the big men involved more, particularly Kurt Thomas.

"We have to trust the offense," Wilkens said.

More than Marbury's injury, the absence of two primary scorers - Tim Thomas and Houston - places a greater burden on Marbury to generate offense. The trio has played together in only eight of a possible 18 games. Thomas is listed as doubtful for tonight while Houston is questionable.

"The difference between having (Allan) is like night and day," Marbury said. "He spaces the floor so well. Guys can't leave him. When he plays he makes the game so much easier."

When Marbury was asked about Kurt Thomas being injured, he fired back by saying: "Everybody is hurt, man. We all have to play with pain right now. It's the stretch run. We can talk about all that (junk) as far as everybody being out. We have to get everybody playing. If you're not hurt right now something is wrong."