Stephon Marbury was brought in for one reason. To provide depth and spark in the playoffs. Stephon Marbury came here for one reason. To change people's perception of him as a loser. Until last night you would have to have said that the jury was still out on both counts (and that's actually being generous). Last night changed all that.
We don't know where this team will end up in these playoffs, but I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say that Marbury had his "PJ Brown moment." People won't remember the fact that prior to last night Stephon had hit only 14 of 51 shots this postseason. They will remember the fact that the Magic had us dead to rights and Marbury alone stood up and said "we will not go down without a fight."
Nobody else was doing anything of note at that point in the game and the body language was starting to look defeated and drained. Marbury hit that first three pointer and suddenly he was on fire.
The Magic strategy of laying off the point guards didn't hurt matters either. From the Herald: (Hat tip Red's Army):
"We were trying to do a lot of helping and double-teaming off the point guards and I thought it was pretty effective in limiting Paul Pierce a little bit, but Marbury really made us pay," Van Gundy continued. "I think he was really the key to the game."
Of course the Celtics needed some stops and Doc made the call to bring Rondo back with the rest of the starters. It was a calculated gamble with Steph being as effective as he was, but the strategy paid off. The starters took that momentum that Steph started and they ran with it all the way to victory.
Marbury made them pay and he will be remembered for it. And that's all that anyone could have asked for.