Pistons 94
Knicks 85
AUBURN HILLS – Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace glared at each other in the lane and began jawing early in the fourth quarter.
As tough as Thomas is, the chances of him winning a brawl against Big Ben is as slight as the chances of the Knicks winning another game until Keith Van Horn returns from a sprained ankle and Allan Houston starts picking up the slack.
Van Horn was not there in body and a gimpy Houston was there in body only but not in spirit. Benched in the second half after tweaking his ankle and still bothered by a sore back, Houston scored just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting to lead a putrid offensive team showing in a 94-85 defeat to the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Big Ben, the league’s most intimidating force, was close to recording an offbeat triple-double – 10 points, nine blocks and nine rebounds. And he came close to getting into a free-for-all with the Knicks’ enforcer who admits he “fears no man.”
Thomas and Wallace became entangled in a shouting match after they banged for a rebound in the opening minute of the fourth, with Thomas’ forearm up high. Thomas got whistled for the loose-ball foul. A few possessions later, Thomas fouled Wallace hard underneath as he went up for a layup. Thomas stared menacingly at Wallace for nearly two seconds and got whistled for his second technical in as many days with 8:56 left – a devastating turn of events.
Wallace made the two free throws and Chauncey Billups connected on the technical to give the Pistons a 12-point lead. Thomas fouled out with 3:54 to go.
Thomas was told by the officials he got the “T” because he got up in Wallace’s face.
“I think it’s a bad call, two nights now; they must think I have a lot of money,” Thomas said. “We were just battling fighting hard. Nothing unusual.”
When Wallace left the court at game’s end, he seemed to be jawing at Thomas again. Wallace thinks Thomas was trying to bait him into an ejection since the Pistons’ big man already had one “T.”
“He’s a cagey veteran,” Wallace said. “He’ll risk getting in my face and getting a technical to try to get me out of the game.”
Don Chaney, who contacted the NBA to complain about the free-throw discrepency in the Lakers’ game, was beside himself at Thomas’ technical.
“I think that was premature,” said Chaney. “I’m going to stop talking about referees right now. I’m not in the mood for that. I’d like to pass on that one.”
Houston, who was benched six minutes into the third period and didn’t return until there was 8:40 left, has now scored only 19 points in the two games Van Horn has missed. “He was limping, so I took him out,” Chaney said. “He struggles here quite a bit.”
Asked if he’d consider not playing Houston to let his back heal, Chaney said, “I can’t afford to. I know that if he sat out, he probably would feel better. We’re not in a situation for that to happen.”
The Knicks fell to 3-9, on the verge of dropping to 3-10 with Philly on tap tonight. They’ll be without Van Horn again and it’s the second night of a back-to-back, which has been their Achilles heel.
The league’s third-most turnover-prone team, the Knicks committed turnovers on their first four possessions. They shot 39.1 percent – Houston going 1-for-9 in the first half.
“We played great defense,” said Thomas, who finished 5-of-17 from the field. “We just couldn’t hit a shot. I led the way with all the bricks I put up.”
Larry Brown said before the game not to judge the Knicks until Antonio McDyess comes back. By then, they may be too far gone.