SLOAN ON THE KNICKS: Speaking of players upset with their coach, Sloan was asked to weigh in on the controversial topics of Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury's relationship with coach Isiah Thomas and the heat Thomas has been catching from fans in New York.

On Thomas: "I hate to see anybody have the problems with people getting on 'em and that sort of thing," he said. "I don't think it's really fair."

On Marbury: "That's within their team. That's not within mine. I've got enough problems trying to deal with mine."

GARDEN VARIETY: Much was made Monday of the fact the Jazz have now lost six of their last seven games vs. the Knicks, including four straight at Madison Square Garden.

Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, though, doesn't think it has anything to do with Utah having stage fright in New York.

"Who doesn't want to play in the Garden?" Boozer asked.

"I know myself, I get pumped up to play here," he added. "We only come here once a year. As a basketball fan, enthusiast, you've got to love to be in this building, think about the people that came before us. I mean, they have Walt Frazier doing their TV. I walked up to him at halftime and told him I'm a huge fan of his. The guy's a legend. So, if you don't get pumped up to play here, where can you get pumped up?"

BLOCK OR GOALTENDING? Much also was made in the Jazz locker room of a late-game block by New York's Eddy Curry on an underhand scoop by Jazz point Deron Williams.

"Y'all (reporters) can talk about it," Williams said. "I can't. But I thought ... it was a goaltending."

Said Sloan: "You can look at that all night long. But I can't fault that, because that's a judgment play."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com