Detroit was smarting over Sunday's embarrassing 26-point home loss to Minnesota, while the Knicks were still trying to put together a roster after trading away their two leading scorers.

To make things tougher for the Knicks, Nate Robinson missed the game with a groin strain, leaving the team with just eight players.

Al Harrington led the Knicks with 25 points, while David Lee added 17 and Wilson Chandler had 15.

The Knicks were able to stay close for the first nine minutes, but the Pistons responded with a 23-7 run that put them up 40-23 in the second.

Detroit led 59-43 at the half, having outshot the Knicks 53 percent to 38 percent and getting 16 assists to the Knicks' seven.

The Knicks got within nine in the third, but couldn't get enough stops to make a serious run. Their defensive woes were in stark display at the end of the period when Stuckey drove through the entire team to hit a buzzer-beating layup.

One of the reasons the Knicks are shorthanded is that Stephon Marbury again refused play last night.

It was the second time in six days that coach Mike D'Antoni went to Marbury to ask him to play. The Knicks have only two healthy guards because Robinson's injury and an ongoing health issue with newly-acquired Cuttino Mobley.

Marbury, who will earn $21.9 million this season, declined to play in last Friday's game in Milwaukee when the Knicks had only eight players after pulling off a pair of trades. The Knicks opted against any form of punishment on Marbury for refusing to play, but that might not be the case this time around.

General manager Donnie Walsh was en route to Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with his family and was not with the team last night. He was unavailable for comment. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Marbury ordeal "will be taken care of soon," which suggests the team might part ways with him with a buyout or play hardball and suspend him without pay.

"They're gonna do what they're gonna do," Marbury said. "That's what they've been doing."

D'Antoni wouldn't broach the subject of punishment or even the topic of a player, who is being paid, refusing to play.

"Guys, I can't get into it," he said. "I understand y'all's job and I appreciate it. But this is something that will be worked out."

Walsh has carefully avoided addressing the Marbury issue publicly and has consistently declined to comment on Marbury over the past week. But when asked if Walsh's stance on Marbury has changed at all in light of last night's actions, a person with knowledge of Walsh's thinking mentioned his quote from the D'Antoni introductory news conference and said, "That's how he feels now."

Marbury met with Walsh on Nov. 13 to discuss how to put an end to his situation with the Knicks, be it with a buyout or a trade. Walsh said he would explore trades but there were no offers on the horizon. Marbury, who originally said he would not take "a penny less" than his full contract, offered to take $1 million less as a buyout. Walsh turned him down. It is believed the Knicks would prefer a number closer to $15 million.