Hamilton and Wallace guide Detroit Pistons past weakened New York Knicks

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.