Yesterday's Knicks practice was cancelled so that the entire team could attend the funeral for Don Marbury, father of Knicks captain Stephon Marbury. Don Marbury died during the Knicks' Sunday night game. Despite being a team often criticized for lacking chemistry, they all stood together at the Coney Island Gospel Assembly on Neptune Ave. to support their point guard during his difficult time. Malik Rose spoke on behalf of the team to the 600-plus......

Boston 1 Rangers 0 (shootout): It was reasonable to expect that the Rangers would take some time to blend in their new acquisitions, but this is getting ugly. After seven games, New York has stumbled to a 2-5 record and looked lifeless in doing so. The offense, which was supposed to be the strength of this club, has struggled, being shutout twice and scoring only one goal twice. Saturday the Rangers couldn’t score again, despite......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An armored robbery in Queens, a boat in distress east of the Steeplechase Pier in Brooklyn and a school bus accident in Staten Island. The bids are in for the West Side Yards, and the companies that submitted them are Extell Development Company, Brookfield Properties Developer LLC, The Related Companies, TS West Side Holding, LLC (A Joint Venture of Tishman Speyer and Morgan Stanley), and Hudson Center East LLC......

Filling the "It's so ridiculous," "It's true" and "You certainly didn't get what you paid for" categories is news that the combined salary for the New York Knickerbockers for the 2006-07 season was a whopping $139,381,526. While the astronomical payroll of the Knicks isn't new news, it's always fun to look at the payrolls of teams that didn't make the NBA Playoffs. Problem number 1 is right at the top of the list - Allan......

Yesterday, New York Knicks shooting guard Allan Houston announced his retirement after 12 years in the NBA. With the Knicks for 9 seasons, Houston retires as fourth on the Knicks' all-time scorer list, ranks 2nd in all-time three-pointers with the team, and as a career 40.2% three-point shooter. Houston, 34, has had knee troubles for several years and has seen limited action in the last two seasons, playing only 70 games. Pressing to return after......

If you were the general manager or owner of the New York Knickerbockers and you had the chance to cut a veteran player who's best days are behind him, what would you do? Apparently you decide to keep him. James Dolan, the chairman of The Garden stepped in and chose not to use the NBA's one-time exemption on Allan Houston. The exemption allows a team to waive a player and not pay the luxury tax......

Reader, you can choose the way to start this post: 1. Isiah fiddled while The Garden burned. 2. He who is ignorant of Layden's history is destined to repeat it. 3. How many small forwards do you need, anyway? The Knicks are officially heading for the lottery after a hugely disappointing season. Stephon Marbury's acquisition last year and the addition of Jamal Crawford made the Knicks appear interesting (if not dominant) to start the season.......

Gothamist stopped into The Garden last night for the Knicks-Heat game, and here’s what we learned: 1. We stood near Shaq, and decided that we could totally take him (see photo). Maybe. 2. Dwayne Wade is even better than people think. 3. Stephon Marbury makes the same mistakes every time we come to a game. Despite a truly determined and aggressive double-digit comeback in last night’s 4th quarter, the Knicks dropped their 17th game in......

After an embarrassing drubbing by LeBron James and his scary facemask on national television Saturday, the Knicks ended a 4-game skid and returned to the .500 mark with a 113-105 victory over the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday. While Gothamist isn't sure if Portland fans came en masse to the Garden wearing plaid shirts, 70's Brawny paper towel guy hair, and mustaches, we'd certainly like to think this was the case. The shooting was the story,......

For the one-year anniversary of Isiah Thomas' time with the Knicks, his team gave the gift of one ugly performance. They were smoked at Madison Square Garden by the Dallas Mavericks, 123-94, which makes the game seem closer than it seemed. How can that be if they lost by 29 points? Well, at halftime, the Knicks were behind 39, a lead that was cut to 37 by the start of the 4th quarter. Not too......

Well, well. The Knicks have finally won a game at the Meadowlands, something they had not done since 2001 (7 games). Prior to this season, a win across the Hudson would have been as surprising as the attendance at last night's game (16,794). The Nets have been struggling to draw a crowd, which isn't surprising given their dismal record, plans to move to Brooklyn, and the trade of Kenyon Martin. Jason Kidd and Allan Houston,......

As if America didn’t have enough going on today, the 2004/2005 NBA season kicks off tonight with a doubleheader on TNT (how’s that for some election coverage counter programming?). The local teams don’t get started until tomorrow when the rebuilt Nets will take on Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat at the Meadowlands and the Knicks travel to the Twin Cities to take on last year’s MVP and the Twolves. Both the Knicks and Nets......

The Daily News reports that Jason Kidd will undergo surgery to repair his left knee. The loose cartilage in the knee is has bothered him since earlier this year. During the NBA Playoffs, Kidd played with the injuries but the Nets lost to the Pistons who went on to win the championship. The surgery is routine, but rehab could take anywhere from 2-4 months. Allan Houston had similar surgery last year and played 50 games......

Unlike the Nets, this figures to be a relatively slow offseason for the Knicks. New GM Isiah Thomas already spent much of the season turning over the roster and trading away anyone associated with deposed GM Scott Layden. Only Allan Houston, Shandon Anderson, Frank Williams, Kurt Thomas, Mike Sweetney and Othella Harrington remain from opening day. A look at their salary situation shows the Knicks paid an incredible 19 players salary last year for a......

Last Friday was the deadline for teams in the NBA (except for the Pistons and Lakers) to turn in their list of unprotected players that will be made available for the expansion Charlotte Bobcats during the expansion draft. Charlotte will form the core of their new team during the draft, to be held on June 22, assuming the NBA Finals do not reach a seventh game. In that case the draft will be held on......

Current Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant whipped the voracious New York media into a frenzy earlier in the week when he stated that he would make a recruiting visit to New York if the Knicks extend an invitation when the free-agency courting period begins in three weeks. All it would take is a call from GM Isiah Thomas. "I'm going to listen to all options. If he invites me, I'll be there," said Bryant. But......

Proving that nothing in New York is cheap, a recent study by Sportsbusinessnews.com confirmed that the New York Knickerbockers were officially the worst bargain in the league this season. When you divide the Knicks $94,395,091 payroll (highest in the league) by 39, the number of W�s they notched this season, the results show that each victory cost owner James Dolan $2,420,387. Need proof that shrewd cap mangement can put you in position to win a......

The New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets will meet each other in the first round of the NBA Playoffs this Saturday. It has already been dubbed the "Bridge and Tunnel Battle", the "Lincoln Tunnel Series", the "Tunnel Tussle", and the "Battle of the News" (we came up with that lame one). It's Stephon Marbury vs. Jason Kidd, Old (Coach Wilkens) vs. New (Coach Frank), Knicks vs. Nets, Marbury playing his old team, it's......

Jason Kidd and Allan Houston both have bum knees. Kidd, the Brooklyn New Jersey Nets point guard may miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs with his knee injury with surgery a possibility as well. Houston, the Knicks co-captain, has no idea when he will return. The injuries to both players have post-season implications for their teams. The Nets are virtually assured of the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference when the......

Last night, the Knicks posted an ugly overtime win against the Washington Wizards, 114-110. After the victory, there was no magic in the locker room. The Knicks looked nothing like a playoff team, and Coach Lenny Wilkens and GM Isiah Thomas let them know that. The Knicks, fighting for a playoff spot and playing at home, could barely muster a win against the Wizards, a team that will watch the the post-season on their TV......

Leave it to the Knicks to make the firing of coach Don Chaney as horrible as possible: Rumors are rampant that Mike Fratello is going to be hired as coach, as Chaney shows up before practice; then right before the game, he's told he's fired, leaving security to escort him and his wife out of the Madison Square Garden. That's really not classy, even if Chaney reportedly said with relief, "I'm not coaching tonight." And......