Unusual circumstances have already kept Stephon Marbury off the court during one stretch this season. Through no fault of his own, that's likely to be the case again on Wednesday night.

Due to the death of his father, Marbury may miss his second game of the season for the New York Knicks when they visit the New Jersey Nets - one of Marbury's former teams.

Don Marbury Sr. died Sunday night during New York's 115-104 loss to Phoenix. The funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Brooklyn, and the Knicks have been preparing to play without their starting point guard.

This isn't the only time personal issues have caused uncertainty about Marbury's playing time. He skipped out on the team in a game at Phoenix in November following a clash with Thomas, and didn't start the following three contests.

New York went 0-4 on the road trip Marbury missed, which took place in the middle of a season-high eight-game losing streak.

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas realizes Marbury's importance to the Knicks (5-11), who have lost four straight meetings with the Nets (9-9) and 22 of the last 26 games between the teams.

"A lot of what we do revolves around him, the point guard," Thomas said. "You take it out of bounds, you give it to him. The leadership, the trust, the play-calling, a lot of that comes from the point guard position. It's the most critical position in the game.

"If he felt that he was able to play emotionally, then we would let him play."

New York could also be without starting center Eddy Curry, who sprained his left ankle during Wednesday morning's shootaround.

Marbury spent parts of three seasons with the Nets from 1999-2001, but has missed four of New York's last seven games against New Jersey due to various injuries.

Thomas has refused to say who would start at point guard for the Knicks if Marbury doesn't return to the team Wednesday night, but Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson are the likely options.

Collins, though, was inactive Sunday because of a sprained left ankle and Robinson hasn't played in the last two games. Thomas said he hasn't used Robinson because of matchup problems for the 5-foot-9 guard, but that would still be a problem against New Jersey's Jason Kidd.

The 6-4 Kidd finished with seven points, six assists and 10 rebounds Tuesday night in a 100-79 win over Cleveland. The veteran guard, who has had 10 or more rebounds five times this season, helped the Nets win for the fifth time in seven games.

Richard Jefferson, meanwhile, scored a season-high 36 points against the Cavaliers, who were playing without injured star LeBron James. Jefferson is having a career year, averaging 24.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

The seven-year veteran forward, though, has downplayed his scoring output.

"I'm not too concerned about that," he said. "I'm more concerned about us being consistent as a team."

This is the first of two straight home games for New Jersey, which is only 4-6 at Izod Center. The Nets snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 94-92 overtime victory over Philadelphia on Saturday night.

New Jersey has been particularly bad on offense at home, averaging 89.2 points per game. The Nets, though, averaged 101.5 points while sweeping four games from the Knicks in 2006-07.