Knicks 108-Pistons 114 01.12.00

Player of the Game:SPREWELL-23Pts,5Rebs,4Stls Best Scorer:Latrell Sprewell-23 Best Rebounder:Patrick Ewing-9 Best Passer:Charlie Ward-6

AUBURN HILLS-It was like old times when they were teammates in Detroit. Allan Houston was matched up with Lindsey Hunter. This time, Hunter won. 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 remaining. "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 3's were by Hunter, a sign of things to come.