Kidd won his duel with Marbury and Martin's scuffle with Rogers sparked the New Jersey Nets to a rousing 106-87 victory over the Phoenix Suns, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
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"They're a playoff team. They're a good team," Marbury said.
During the offseason, the Nets and Suns swung a blockbuster deal in which the teams exchanged All-Star point guards. The Nets acquired Kidd, who has shown a young team how to win. The Suns received Marbury, who has provided a scoring boost.
Both teams have benefited from the trade. New Jersey came in a surprising 10-6 while Phoenix had found a rhythm to improve to 12-7. However, that hasn't stopped Marbury from taking thinly veiled shots at Nets coach Byron Scott, or vice versa.
"He was doing what he has been doing," Scott said. "He's been looking to get other guys involved in their offense. Obviously, my tactics didn't work. He didn't come out and shoot the ball 30 times."
Kidd had six points, nine rebounds, 13 assists and four steals. Marbury, who was soundly booed in the pregame introductions and nearly every time he touched the ball, had 15 points and seven assists.
"I'll be able to sleep tonight. I didn't sleep last night," Kidd said. "I think my whole family was wishing it was the first game of the season instead of so late in the season because I was so tough pacing. The clock wasn't moving fast enough. Great game. The atmosphere was great. It was great to kick their (butt)."
"It's amazing this guy can control a game and not even score," Scott said of Kidd.
And the duo triggered the key play of the game. With the score tied late in the second quarter, Kidd stripped Marbury and Martin picked up the loose ball. He was going in for a breakaway layup when he was fouled hard by Marbury and Rogers, both of whom tried to catch Martin before he fell into the seats.
Martin shoved Rogers as the players fell and the pair had to be separated. Both received technical fouls but the incident seemed to spark the Nets. They closed the quarter with an 11-2 run that built a 55-46 halftime lead.
"I loved it," Scott said. "I thought our guys got a little upset about the scuffle. They wanted to do something about it and they did. They came out right after that and went on a nice little run."
It continued in the third quarter with Kidd providing the spark. He had two 3-pointers, five assists and five rebounds as New Jersey widened the advantage to 82-61 entering the final period.
Martin scored 22 points and left to a huge ovation after making a pair of 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter. Rogers scored 10 points off Phoenix's bench.
"We wanted to win this for Jason and us," Martin said.
Kerry Kittles scored 24 points and Todd MacCulloch added 15 for the Nets, who improved to 7-2 at home. Shawn Marion had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who began a three-game road trip.
After being shoved, Rogers got up and had to be restrained from going after Martin. Scott came onto the court in defense of his player and Martin made two free throws to give the Nets the lead for good.
"In my view, Kenyon was going to the basket and Rodney just fouled him; (he) wasn't trying to hurt him," said Kidd, who was trailing the play. "Kenyon got bounced around like a pinball. He was trying to protect himself. In a situation like that, everybody's opinion is that it was a fight, but it really was just confusion."
Kidd also used the opportunity to fire up his team.
"This is our chance, a time for us to put our foot on their throat," Kidd said he told his teammates.
"After the scuffle he got into it," Scott said. "He's not a very, very emotional guy. He tries to keep everything as low-key as possible. He made some comments to kind of let our guys know, `Hey, it's really time to play.'"
Van Horn hit a jumper and Kittles sank a 3-pointer before a pair of baskets by MacCulloch gave New Jersey a nine-point halftime lead.
Van Horn had a 3-pointer and dunk and Kidd had two assists in a 7-0 surge that opened the third quarter and extended the lead to 62-46. Consecutive 3-pointers by Kittles and Kidd made it 72-54 with 4:15 left and Kidd ended the quarter with another 3-pointer for a 21-point bulge.
Martin's 3-pointers gave New Jersey its largest lead at 105-80 with 1:27 to play.
Aaron Williams swept 11 boards and Van Horn 10 for the Nets, who held a 55-42 edge on the glass and shot 44 percent (40-of-91).
Tony Delk scored 14 points and Penny Hardaway added 12 for the Suns, who shot 41 percent (36-of-88).