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Knicks and Pistons tangle in Auburn Hills

Mar 18, 2011 - 2:59 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Knicks were able to get off the schneid in a big way and shoot for an encore performance tonight against the Detroit Pistons in the opener of a quick road trip at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Knicks will also visit Milwaukee and are 16-18 outside of Madison Square Garden, where they buried a franchise-best 20 three-pointers in Thursday's 120-99 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies. Toney Douglas made nine three-pointers en route to 29 points and matched a Knicks single-game record by shooting 9- of-12 from beyond the arc.

"I had rhythm, and plus, my teammates, they created opportunities for me to have open jump shots," Douglas said. "Once you're in the zone, you feel like you can't miss."

Carmelo Anthony got into the act with 28 points and Chauncey Billups contributed 18 and eight assists for the Knicks, who went 20-of-36 from downtown and got 16 points and nine rebounds from Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks are sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, just a half-game ahead of Philadelphia.

New York ended a three-game slide with the recent win.

Meanwhile, the Pistons also put the brakes on a three-game losing streak with Wednesday's 107-93 triumph versus the Toronto Raptors and got 24 points from Richard Hamilton. Hamilton, though, is expected to miss Friday's game for personal reasons.

Tayshaun Prince scored 22 points and Greg Monroe added 21 and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which won for the second time in seven tries. Monroe also tied his career high with five assists.

"In the third-quarter we went back and forth with them and weren't getting the stops that we were in the first quarter," Prince said. "Then a lot of guys come off the bench after sitting over there for a while, so it takes them a few minutes to get going. Those first couple minutes are important because if the other team gets going it's hard to stop."

The Pistons will try move above .500 on the road as it sports a 17-17 ledger at The Palace this season.

New York has beaten Detroit twice already this season and is 4-0 in the previous four matchups in this series. The Knicks, however, have lost 12 of their previous 16 visits to The Palace.