Hamilton, Wallace guide Pistons past weakened Knicks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and
Rasheed Wallace added 23 to lead the Detroit Pistons to a
105-79 win over a weakened New York Knicks at Madison Square
Garden on Thursday.

Without injured leading scorer Stephon Marbury and
suspended Antonio Davis, the Knicks could offer only mild
resistance against the surging Pistons, who stormed to their
sixth straight victory.

Tayshaun Prince contributed 18 points to the Detroit total
while Carlos Delfino added 11 and Chauncey Billups dished out
13 assists as the Pistons improved their record to an NBA best
32-5.

Eddy Curry paced New York with 26 points and eight rebounds
while Channing Frye added 15 as the Knicks slipped to their
fourth straight defeat.

The Knicks had to do without Marbury for a second
consecutive game due to an injured shoulder and learned just
before tip-off they would be without Davis for the next five
games.

Davis was handed the suspension for charging into the
stands to confront a fan during Wednesday night’s game against
the Chicago Bulls.

Davis left the Knicks bench with 1:04 remaining in overtime
and climbed into the stands to intervene after seeing what he
thought was a fan harassing his wife.

President of the NBA Players Association, Davis did not
throw a punch or act aggressively toward the male spectator,
who was seated near Davis’ wife, Kendra, and their two
children.

He was, however, ejected from the game and escorted from
the court.

Larry Brown, who guided Detroit to an NBA championship in
2004 and left at the end of last season to take over as coach
of the struggling Knicks, got little sympathy from his former
team.

The Pistons roared to a 28-13 lead in the opening 12
minutes and led by as many 30 in the final quarter.

In Sacramento, Mike Bibby bagged 40 points and Kenny Thomas
had his first career triple-double to offset a brilliant
performance from Kobe Bryant as the Kings battled to a 118-109
overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thomas had 16 points, including six in overtime, 12
rebounds and 10 assists while Brad Miller also contributed l6
points to the win.

In claiming their third straight victory, the Kings had to
overcome a 51 point effort from Bryant, that included a perfect
13-of-13 from the free throw line.

Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer, was on fire in the
opening quarter hitting for 21 points to stake the Lakers to a
31-27 lead.

However, it was the Kings that led 54-52 at the
intermission, setting the stage for a seesaw battle in the
second half.

Trailing 102-97 with 35 seconds to play, the Kings rallied
with Miller hitting a three pointer with four seconds left on
the clock to send the game into overtime.

(writing by Steve Keating in Toronto)