Melo scores 6 as Knicks fall to Pistons

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- This is the Carmelo Anthony the Knicks hoped they wouldn't ever see. The one the Denver Nuggets knew eventually would appear, perhaps once the novelty had worn off.

The novelty officially has worn off for these Knicks, who took a terrible 99-95 loss to the lottery-bound Detroit Pistons on Friday at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

This time there were no last-second heroics for Anthony, who had a miserable night and finished with six points. With the Knicks trailing 97-95, Anthony's drive to the basket with 37.8 seconds left fell short of the rim as what appeared to be a foul by Chris Wilcox went uncalled.

This came after Wilcox soared for a thunderous putback dunk with 51.9 seconds left to give Detroit the lead. After Anthony's miss, he also failed to corral a defensive rebound, and the Knicks were forced to foul. Will Bynum's free throws with 11 seconds left completed the scoring.

After the game, Anthony stormed out of the visitors' locker room and went straight to the team bus without addressing the media.

"There's nights like that where you don't quite have it,'' Amar'e Stoudemire said of his co-star, "and it's up to us to bring forth the effort. All of us.''

Anthony finished with his lowest output as a Knick, shooting 2-for-12 from the field in 37:06. Stoudemire had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Toney Douglas, who tied a franchise record with nine three-pointers Thursday, had 20 points and a career-high 11 assists for the Knicks (35-33), who have lost four of five.

Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points and Wilcox had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Pistons (25-44). "We wanted it more,'' Wilcox said.

The Knicks had 18 turnovers, including eight by Chauncey Billups, who continued to have a difficult time connecting with Stoudemire (five turnovers) and Jared Jeffries. The offense had an inconsistent night that included a 17-0 run in the third and a failure to score in the final 2:35.

A night after setting a franchise record with 20 three-pointers in a win over the Grizzlies, the Knicks didn't have the magic from downtown. The Knicks held a 95-93 lead, but Billups and Shawne Williams missed three-pointers down the stretch.

The Knicks led by 11 early in the fourth, a lead they built with Anthony on the bench and not looking like the team player he so often has talked about wanting to become in New York. During one timeout early in the quarter, Anthony never got off the bench. While the rest of the players gathered around the huddle, Anthony stayed seated with a towel over his shoulders.

Anthony returned to the court with 8:34 left but did little to impact the game. Anthony, who was visibly annoyed at not getting the ball in post-up isolations against Rodney Stuckey, took only six shots in the second half and missed all of them.

The Knicks went ahead 83-75 on Stoudemire's jumper with 9:39 left, but a 14-3 run moved the Pistons back in front at 89-86.

"They got some opportunities and just didn't miss,'' Billups said. "And then down the stretch we just turned the ball over too many times, didn't get back and gave up too many meaningful, easy baskets.''

Notes & quotes: With Richard Hamilton out (death in the family), the Pistons went with a starting lineup that had five players 6-8 or taller . . . The Knicks have lost eight straight games on Friday night.