A fed-up Marbury returned fire at the hometown crowd after the Knicks' 113-109 win over the Jazz, saying fans at the Garden boo out of ignorance.

"If people feel like they need to come here and do that, then that's what they're going to do," the Coney Island product said. "I don't even think they know why they're booing."

Marbury was responding to the deafening boos that greeted him during pregame introductions by a crowd still smarting from the veteran point guard's one-game defection from the team two weeks ago in Phoenix.

Marbury claimed the boos didn't affect him, but they certainly appeared to motivate him in his one-on-one matchup with Utah's young Deron Williams, already one of the NBA's top point guards.