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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- It was like old times when they were teammates in Detroit. Allan Houston was matched up with Lindsey Hunter.
This time, Hunter won.
|  | | Lindsey Hunter, left, scorched the Knicks for 29 points, including seven 3-pointers. |
Hunter scored a season-high 29 points, including a career-best seven 3-point shots, in leading the Pistons to a 114-108 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse also scored 29 points for the surging Pistons, who have won seven of their last eight games. But it was Hunter who made the difference.
"I've seen him like that before," said Houston, who scored 22
for the Knicks. "He was definitely the 'X' factor, shooting the
ball so well. He knows how to get them up, and he made them
tonight."
Hunter was happy with the points, of course. But he seemed most
pleased that he was able to block one of Houston's shots with 3:53
left in the fourth quarter, leading to a breakaway dunk by
Stackhouse.
"I was pretty surprised that I blocked it," Hunter said.
"Allan usually jumps higher than that on his shots."
It was the most points allowed in a regulation game this season
by the Knicks, who dropped to 2-7 on the second night of
back-to-back games.
"That's becoming a problem," Houston said.
The Pistons led 91-79 on a layup by Jerome Williams with 8:45
left. But Chris Childs hit two baskets, then Patrick Ewing became
unstoppable. Ewing scored two straight baskets in the paint, sank
two free throws, then backed in on Terry Mills for another basket
to pull the Knicks within two, 93-91, with 5:02 remaining.
"A lot of this game is about rhythm, and Patrick got his rhythm
back," Houston said. "He got us back into the game."
After a Detroit timeout, however, Hill hit a jumper from the
left side of the lane that triggered a 10-2 run for a 103-93 lead
with 1:40 left.
The Knicks got it down to four points three times the rest of
the way. But they were forced into fouling and watched as Detroit
closed it out with nine free throws.
Latrell Sprewell scored 23 for the Knicks and Ewing added 20.
With Hunter making three 3s and a three-point play, the Pistons
closed the third quarter with a 21-7 run to take an 85-73 lead into
the fourth quarter. The Knicks only made one basket over the final
3:45 of the quarter, and that came on Larry Johnson's three-point
play with 9.3 remaing.
"Fatigue probably caught up with us in the third quarter,"
Houston said. "You have to find a way to fight through that. We've
got to find the energy to fight through those situations, and do
it."
The Pistons opened the game hitting their first six shots, the
first three of which were 3-pointers. It didn't mean much, though.
New York took a 33-29 lead into the second quarter and led 54-52 at
halftime.
Still, two of those 3s were by Hunter, a sign of things to
come.
Game notes
A moment of silence was observed before the game in honor
of Bobby Phills, the Charlotte Hornets' player killed in an auto
accident that morning. As the public address announcer read a
testimonial, a picture of Phills appeared on the scoreboard. During
the moment of silence that followed, the picture faded to dark. ...
Sprewell made two spectacular plays to steal the ball from Hill in
the first half. The best of the two was the first, when he snatched
the ball from Hill near midcourt and slashed through the lane for a
dunk.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New York Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 95
LA Clippers 88
Indiana 117
Washington 102
Toronto 108
Orlando 102
Chicago 0
Charlotte 0
Detroit 114
New York 108
LA Lakers 103
Milwaukee 94
Seattle 103
Denver 93
Portland 95
Cleveland 75
Phoenix 95
Vancouver 92
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