Hamilton fared well in 16 games off the bench, averaging 17.7 points and 4.4 assists in under 30 minutes per game. But Detroit went just 4-12 in that stretch, including eight straight losses from Feb. 8-25.

The Pistons (32-30) snapped that skid in Hamilton's return to the starting five Feb. 27, the beginning of a 5-1 stretch fueled by the veteran shooting guard.

Hamilton is averaging 24.7 points and 6.7 assists in that stretch, during which Detroit has two wins over Southeast Division-leading Orlando and one apiece over Atlantic leader Boston and Denver, which at the time was in first place in the Northwest.

Hamilton led the Pistons with 29 points and a career-high 14 assists in a 98-94 win over the Magic on Monday night.

"My shot wasn't falling, so I tried to find my open teammates," said Hamilton, who was 10-for-25 from the field. "They were the ones knocking down the shots."

Pistons coach Michael Curry wasn't as concerned with who was making the shots as he was with how his team bounced back from a loss at Atlanta in the second half of a back-to-back Saturday.

"I thought every player on the team put on a winning performance," Curry said. "I was worried how we would respond with three games in four nights, but it was strong."

The Pistons can continue their surge by extending their dominance of the Knicks (26-37) in Detroit. Since the start of the 2002-03 season, New York is 1-11 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Knicks snapped a six-game road skid with a 120-112 victory at Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Nate Robinson scored 10 of his 32 points in the final five minutes and Larry Hughes added a season-high 39 in New York's first road win since Jan. 31.

"It gives them some credence, 'OK, we can do this, let's do this again,'" said coach Mike D'Antoni, whose team improved to 8-22 away from home. "Hopefully we'll be able to string some wins together and see what happens."

Hughes, who came to the Knicks in a February trade from Chicago, is averaging 21.7 points and shooting 50.6 percent over his last six games. He said he sees his new team making progress.

"We have good pieces on this team," Hughes said. "We just have to find a way to put everything together and play the way a playoff team should play for 48 minutes, and that's hard and aggressive on both ends of the court."

The home team has won each of the first two meetings between the Knicks and Pistons this season. Hamilton led eight Detroit players scoring in double figures with 17 points in a 110-96 win Nov. 26, then got ejected from a 104-92 loss at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 7.

Hamilton, who's been ejected 10 times in his 10-year career, has been tossed from three games against the Knicks, all on the road.

The Pistons hope to have Rasheed Wallace back for this game. Detroit's starting center left Monday's win in the first quarter with a left calf strain and didn't return.