Pistons Top Short-Handed Knicks

Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, and the Detroit Pistons moved to the verge of clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Knicks 91–83 last night for their 50th victory.

Richard Hamilton added 19 points, including a pair of baskets in a late spurt that let the lethargic Pistons pull out the win. Detroit, which beat Cleveland on Sunday, was tied with the short-handed Knicks with under 3 minutes to play.

The Pistons (50–27) lowered their magic number to one for clinching the home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs. They have won 50 games in a franchise-record six straight seasons, one more than a stretch from 1986–91 when they were led by current Knicks coach Isiah Thomas.

Eddy Curry and Nate Robinson scored 24 points apiece for the Knicks, whose playoff hopes are all but gone. They entered three games behind eighth-place Orlando and are running out of time and healthy bodies.

Stephon Marbury missed his second straight game with a sprained right big toe that may also keep him out of Tuesday's game at Chicago, and rookie Renaldo Balkman was out with a stomach virus. David Lee was in uniform but didn't play because of the pain in his right leg, forcing Thomas to use some strange combinations and give rare playing time to Randolph Morris and Kelvin Cato.

Steve Francis came back after missing five games with a sprained right ankle, but didn't make it all the way through. He was ejected by referee Steve Javie after picking up two quick technical fouls for arguing a call early in the fourth quarter.

The Pistons trailed by 10 in the final minute of the third quarter before Billups woke them up with a flurry. He made the tiebreaking jumper with 2:37 to play, Hamilton added a 3-pointer and Rasheed Wallace added a follow dunk to give Detroit an 86–79 lead with 1:26 remaining. Hamilton made another jumper to make the lead seven again with under a minute left.