Marbury scores 28 in Knicks victory

What a difference two weeks make.\nIt’s been two weeks since New York coach Isiah Thomas decreed that he didn’t think his point guard was worthy of starting. Now, he can’t stop gushing about him.\nStephon Marbury continued his turnaround with a season-high 28 points, and the New York Knicks beat the Utah Jazz 113-109 on Monday night.\n“I thought Marbury was great,” Thomas said. “His leadership throughout the game, during the course of the game, his decision-making, his defense, his shot-making ability. Just from start to finish he was great.\n“Overall a good team effort, but No. 3 was really good tonight.”\nMarbury was still hearing pregame boos along with Thomas after ditching the team for a game in Phoenix when the coach told him of plans to remove him from the starting lineup. Marbury regained his starting spot last week, and on Monday he keyed one of the Knicks’ best offensive performances of the season.\nThomas stressed it was his disappointment in Marbury’s defense and leadership that led to the demotion, but Marbury has shown his offense is rounding into shape. He scored 19 points Saturday against Chicago, and followed that by going 9-for-14 and making all three 3-pointers Monday.\n“When I have the ball more and I’m able to create and make plays, I can get into a nice flow,” Marbury said. “Coming into this year I was trying to pick up from last year from the end of the season, but that didn’t happen. But with time, everything might happen. The season is still young, it’s November. I’m not panicking at all. I’m not worried, I have no worries as far as how I’m going to play.”\nZach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 22 points for the Knicks, who have won two in a row following an eight-game losing streak. Randolph, who grabbed a huge offensive rebound in the final seconds, has eight double-doubles in the 10 games he has played this season.\n“Right now we feel like we beat anybody,” Randolph said. “We got a lot of talent in here and guys have got to be ready to play. Like I said to the guys, when we compete we can play with anybody in this league. I really mean that.”\nCarlos Boozer scored 16 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, but the Jazz had their three-game winning streak snapped. Deron Williams added 26 points and eight assists for Utah, which played Sunday in Detroit and seemed a step slow on defense, allowing the Knicks to shoot 53 percent from the field.