Stephon Marbury spent the last six minutes on the bench last night, unable to salvage his scoring average or the final game of an ugly road trip.

"I thought about getting back in the game," Larry Brown said of his decision to take Marbury out for good. "And I thought we did that."

Even without Marbury, the Knicks' late rally fell short as they lost, 95-86, to the Nuggets to fall to 2-7. Marbury played only 31 minutes and afterward said he supported Brown's decision. But Marbury clearly is struggling to adjust to Brown's demands and looks nothing like the player who has been a two-time All-Star.

Brown is also frustrated by Marbury's inconsistent play and is tired of answering questions about it.

"Let me ask you," Brown said to reporters, "what position has Stephon Marbury played his whole career?"

In other words, Brown needs Marbury to be better than nine points on 4-for-11 shooting and nine assists.