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Tuesday, Apr. 18 7:30pm ET
Houston scores 29; New York 33-8 at home | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- As badly as the Detroit Pistons wanted to clinch the seventh playoff seed in the East, they couldn't get it done Tuesday night. With interim coach George Irvine electing to rest Jerry Stackhouse down the stretch, even after Detroit pulled within six points, the Pistons dropped a 100-88 decision to New York in a game that meant almost nothing to the Knicks. The Pistons can still earn the seventh spot and a more favorable matchup _ Miami rather than Indiana -- in the first round of the playoffs if they beat the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night in their final game of the regular season. The Pistons went 2-2 vs. Miami and were 1-3 against top-seeded Indiana. "We really want to play Miami," Stackhouse said. "They're having a little turmoil right now, Tim (Hardaway) is hurt and we feel we can take advantage of that. "(Indiana) is a veteran team, so we'd much rather play a team like Miami that's basically counting on a rookie point guard to lead them into the playoffs as opposed to Mark Jackson and Reggie Miller -- guys who have been around a long time," Stackhouse said. Allan Houston scored 29 to lead the Knicks, who are already locked into a tough first-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors. It was the highest scoring total in 11 games for Houston, who shot 9-for-15 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line. Latrell Sprewell added 16 and Kurt Thomas 14 for the Knicks, who reached 50 victories for the first time since the 1996-97 season and improved to 33-8 at home -- their best home record since 1992-93. Stackhouse scored 24 for Detroit, getting all his points in the first three quarters. Stackhouse sat out much of the fourth quarter and the Pistons were unable to sustain a rally without him or Grant Hill. "They were resting me for tomorrow," Stackhouse explained. "I'm a little banged up. I've got some deep bruises and stuff, but it's not really going to heal until the end of the season. Resting 10-15 minutes isn't going to help any, so I would have liked to have been out there." Hill sat out his second straight game with a bone bruise in his left ankle and said he did not know if he'll be able to play against the Bulls. The Knicks were also down a player as Marcus Camby went on the injured list earlier in the day with a sprained right knee. He also will miss Wednesday's finale at Boston but should be ready for the playoff opener against the Raptors. "This is certainly the greatest first-round challenge we've had since I've been here," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. Coming in with a two-game losing streak, Van Gundy implored his team to start playing like a championship contender, even writing on the chalkboard in the locker room, "Pass like a championship team; Work like a championship team." That's exactly what the Knicks did during the pivotal stretch of this game -- three minutes during the third quarter when it went from being tied to the Knicks holding a 14-point lead. It started with an 8-0 run featuring two layups, a short jumper and two foul shots and ended with Patrick Ewing tipping in a missed shot for a 71-57 lead. The Pistons pulled to 84-78 on a 3-pointer by John Crotty with 5:25 left, but Rick Brunson converted a three-point play and Houston hit a jumper to end the threat. "The guys that got it close were the guys on the floor," Irvine said of his decision to keep Stackhouse on the bench, "those were the guys I was going to play. I thought they played the best out of anyone tonight." Game notesTo replace Camby, the Knicks activated C Chris Dudley, who had been out since April 6 with a sore lower back. ... Detroit F Mikki Moore was struck in the nose by teammate Christian Laettner's hip during the second quarter but returned in the second half. ... Eric Montross of the Pistons went 2-for-2 from the line, shooting jumpers on both shots, to raise his season percentage from 40 percent to 50 percent. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Detroit Clubhouse New York Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 114 Washington 81
New York 100
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