"Like many displaced Knicks, Zach Randolph seems happy with his new beginning.

And though the Los Angeles Clippers forward hasn't stayed in touch with former New York teammate Stephon Marbury, he's certainly curious about the Celtics' new backup point guard.

"How is he fitting in?" asked Randolph, who, pleased to hear that Marbury appears to be navigating through the locker room without any trouble, nodded as if he knew this would happen.

"I'm happy for him. It's good," he said before the Celtics' 90-77 win against the Clippers last night.

"When you go onto a great team like that, you have to fall in line. I'm happy for him. It's good. Players like (Kevin) Garnett, (Paul) Pierce and Ray Allen are going to make you fall in line. A bad chemistry guy coming into that situation wouldn't be any different. He'd still have to fall in line."

This is not to say that Randolph considers the oft-maligned Marbury a bad chemistry guy.

Asked whether Marbury was misunderstood in New York, Randolph said: "I think so. I never had a problem with him. There was just a lot of stuff going on there. The year before I got traded to (the Clippers) there was just a lot of things going on with a lot of people."

More to the point, Randolph believes that the old Marbury soon will become apparent in the Celtics rotation.

"Training camp. He had a great training camp," he said. "I thought it was the old Steph, with the way he was playing. He came into camp light, in great shape. He looked good. I think that once Steph gets his rhythm back, it will all come back to him. It will be easier for him, too, on that team.""