Billups, Pistons Too Much for Curry, Knicks

Going up against first-place Pistons on their home court is never easy, and the Knicks found Detroit was no cure for their current slide on Wednesday night, falling to the Pistons 98-86.

The loss was New York’s eighth in a row, although it is still very early in the season and New York is within three games of a potential playoff spot. The Knicks played with great spirit on Wednesday but could not stop the balanced offensive attack of the Pistons, who had four players go over 12 points.

Detroit received contributions from many, but Chauncey Billups was the star with 11 points and a remarkable 11 assists in the first half alone. He finished the night with 25 points and 15 assists, as well as an astounding zero turnovers for the game.

“He (Billups) did everything that they needed when they needed it. … He had a great floor game and a great scoring game,” said Knicks President, Basketball Operations, and Head Coach Isiah Thomas.

Billups set up his teammates and they hit their shots. Ex-Knick Antonio McDyess had his best game of the season with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Rip Hamilton also impressed, with 12 points and eight assists.

In a Tuesday night loss to Golden State at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks were undone by turnovers. New York had the same problem in Detroit, though the Knicks were much improved in that statistical category, turning the ball over 13 times, which was lowerr than their season average. Turnovers, however, were not the primary issue against Detroit.

Foul shots were the real sticking point, because the Knicks did not get to the free throw line much and shot only 57 percent from the charity stripe when they did get there. Ultimately, the Knicks had the misfortune of running into hot-shooting and confident Pistons team, whichshot 49 percent from the field, including over 44 percent from three-point range

Despite the Knicks’ improvement over Tuesday, power forward Zach Randolph, who saw his seven-game double-double streak halted in Detroit, pointed to turnovers as the key problem.

“We just have to get it right. … We just have to take care of the ball,” said Randolph “… I just have to be more careful with the ball.

The Knicks were within one point with five minutes remaining in the half, but the team could not maintain its momentum. Detroit went on a 13-4 run to end the half up by 10, and the Knicks were never able to come back from that deficit.

Any chance the team had to mount a comeback was halted when the Pistons went on yet another 13-4 run, this time to close out the third quarter. But the Knicks pointed to the second quarter as the point at which they lost the game.