The last anxious moment came when D. J. Augustin, the quick-footed rookie, intercepted Zach Randolph’s inbounds pass in the backcourt. But Augustin’s momentum carried him out of bounds, and the Knicks got the ball back.  Jamal Crawford, intentionally fouled by Augustin, hit two free throws with 6.6 seconds left to seal the win. Richardson missed a 27-foot 3-pointer as time expired.  It will take months, if not years, for Coach Mike D’Antoni to chase away all the toxic haze of the last several years. But beating Brown’s team was a start, and it got the Knicks back to .500, at 2-2.  “It’s going to be a battle for a long time, until we just iron some things out,” D’Antoni said. “We took some bad shots and made a lot of mistakes.”  Randolph led the Knicks with 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Nate Robinson had 24 points and 5 assists. Wilson Chandler finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Six Bobcats scored in double figures, led by Raymond Felton’s 18.  It had been two and a half years since Brown coached a game here. The scene had hardly changed. Brown was booed, the Knicks fell behind early and Stephon Marbury scowled from the bench.  Robinson — whom Brown once dismissed as “a highlight reel” — provided just that. He opened the second quarter with an 11-point burst in 89 seconds — including two 3-pointers and a 3-point play. After tipping in a David Lee miss, he hit two more 3-pointers, giving him 19 points in six minutes and the Knicks a 40-26 lead.  It evaporated quickly. The Knicks committed four turnovers in the next six minutes, and Charlotte, behind a scoring burst from Richardson, closed the half on a 25-11 run, tying the score at 51-51.  Robinson, who went 9 for 12 in the half, did not score again, or attempt another field goal. Crawford and Randolph took the baton for the second half.  Although Brown was booed, his boss was warmly cheered. Michael Jordan, the managing member of basketball operations for the Bobcats, received a standing ovation when he was shown on the video scoreboard in the first quarter. Jordan watched the game from a courtside seat across from the Charlotte bench. Charles Oakley, a former Knick and a close friend of Jordan’s, had a seat on the baseline.  Before the game, Brown had nothing but nice words for the team that turned on him and turned him out in 2006. He praised several players acquired by Isiah Thomas, his onetime foe. He expressed sympathy for Marbury, the guard he habitually derided during his time here. Marbury has been banished from D’Antoni’s rotation.  “I think a lot of teams would like him,” Brown said. “I watched him in exhibition, and I thought he played well.”  The Garden was less forgiving of Brown. He was roundly booed before the game, just as he was when he coached here. Crawford, one of eight players remaining from Brown’s tenure, sought out Brown for a hug before tip-off. Quentin Richardson and Malik Rose paid their respects during pregame warmups.  The Bobcats held Brown’s pregame session with the news media earlier than usual to accommodate the crowd. More than two dozen reporters and cameramen surrounded him.  The multiple daily meetings with New York’s outsize news media contingent were a source of strain when Brown coached here.  “Everybody said, ‘What did you miss?’ Well, I missed smelling the gym and being around the players and coaches,” Brown said earlier this week. “Then, ‘What didn’t you miss?’ ”  He smiled, motioning toward the reporter who was interrogating him. “It’s like going to the dentist.”  Those burdens now belong to D’Antoni. The season is only four games old, and already the D’Antoni era has been overshadowed by Thomas’s sleeping-pill overdose, Marbury’s outcast status and Brown’s return.  “I didn’t think we were going to just come in with a puff of fresh air and it just all goes away,” D’Antoni said. “That doesn’t happen. I knew we had to slog through some things and get things right.”  Jared Jeffries, recovering from a broken left fibula, said he expected to shed his walking boot soon. He could be cleared to run in the next week or two. ... Patrick Ewing Jr., cut by the Knicks before the season, attended the game as a fan. Ewing said he had offers to play in Europe and the N.B.A. Development League, but that he was waiting for the right opportunity.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: Brown Praises the Knicks, Then Gives Them a Gift. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Larry Brown left as the face of the Knicks’ failures, then returned to praise their roster, express admiration for management and help boost their record.