AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince each scored 19 points to help the Pistons beat the Knicks 97-88 last night for their fifth straight victory and 10th in 11 games.

Jamal Crawford had 23 points for the Knicks, who fell to 5-20 in 2005. Detroit swept the season series against the Knicks for the first time since 1989-90.

The Pistons were in command throughout and pulled away with a 13-5 run to open the second half, giving them a 64-47 lead. Antonio McDyess scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give Detroit a 17-point lead, and the Pistons coasted the rest of the way to extend their home winning streak to a season-best seven games.

Detroit’s Chauncey Billups scored 15 points and had eight assists, and Rasheed Wallace had 12 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Carlos Arroyo had 13 points, and McDyess added nine. Tim Thomas and Kurt Thomas both scored 15 points for the Knicks, and Stephon Marbury was held to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

The flu kept Larry Brown from coaching the Pistons. Assistant coach Gar Heard filled in for Brown as he did after Brown had hip surgery in November. Brown became ill in the Bahamas during the All-Star break.

A sequence early in the third quarter was the latest example of how the defending NBA champions are starting to play like they did last season. After Prince scored on an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Billups, the Pistons blocked two shots on the ensuing possession, the second one leading to Billups’ fastbreak layup.