Randolph, Knicks blow out Pistons

Randolph scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the lowly Knicks punished the travel-weary Detroit Pistons, 89-65 on Sunday night with their most lopsided win of the season.

 Though he downplayed it, Randolph had a tiff with Thomas in the second quarter of Friday night's 99-90 loss to the visiting Toronto Raptors. As a result, the Knicks forward played just 10 minutes and was benched for the second half. However, he was back to spark the convincing win against the veteran Pistons (28-10) which owns the league's second-best record.

 "I was feeling good," said Randolph after the Knicks improved to just 10-26 on the season. "Everybody came out real aggressive, everybody was playing together.

 "Detroit is a great team, but we came out hard, especially in the second half, moving the ball and the guys were hitting shots."

   Randolph's 17 first-half points staked the Knicks to a 43-32 lead before they took control.

 With Jamal Crawford erupting for all 15 of his points in the pivotal third quarter, the Knicks outscored the Pistons 28-10, to open up a 29-point cushion, and turn the game into a garden party.

 Thomas thought the schedule caught up with the Pistons, who were playing the finale of a grueling four-game in five nights card.

 "We knew they would be pretty tired and we tried to play with as much energy as we possibly could and I think we caught them on a good night," said Thomas, who starred on two Pistons' championship teams nearly 20 years ago. "They were a little flat and we played a good basketball game."

   Added Thomas: "It is always good to win and for us to win by such a large margin. It was a good night and good feel-good game for us."

   Antonio McDyess had 15 points and grabbed 13 boards for the Pistons (28-10) who shot an icey 30.7 per cent from the field (23-of- 75) en route to their third-lowest scoring game in franchise history.

 "They beat us bad," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We didn't really do anything. We gave an unacceptable effort and now we've got to bounce back."

   Elsewhere:    Toronto Raptors 116, Trail Blazers 109, (2 OT)    Chris Bosh scored six of his 38 points in the second overtime and grabbed 14 rebounds as the host Raptors sent the Trail Blazers to just their second loss in the last 19 games.

 Anthony Parker netted 25 points while Spain's Jose Calderon accumulated 22 points and 10 assists in Raptors' (20-17) third straight win.

 Brandon Roy led Portland (22-14) with a career-high 33 points, 10 assists, and a three-pointer with two seconds remaining in the first overtime to knot the game at 104. Travis Outlaw had 18 points and Channing Frye finished with 16.

 LA Lakers 100, Memphis Grizzlies 99    Kobe Bryant scored 37 points, and Kwame Brown made a foul shot with 9.2 seconds remaining, helping the host Lakers stretch their winning streak to a season-high six games.

 Lakers centre Andrew Bynum had 10 points and nine rebounds, but suffered a left knee sprain going for a rebound with three minutes gone in the third quarter. He was helped off court and X-rays were negative, though an MRI was scheduled for Monday.

 Mike Miller scored 27 points and Spain's Pau Gasol had 21 points, a season-high 18 rebounds and eight assists for the Grizzlies (10- 27), who have lost four in a row.

 New Orleans Hornets 87, Houston Rockets 82    Chris Paul scored six of his 19 points in the final 32 seconds and handed out 11 assists, lifting the Hornets to their seventh straight road win.

 David West collected 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans (25-12) which pulled within one game of idle Dallas for Southwest Division supremacy.

 Chinese superstar Yao Ming had 30 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets (20-18) whose five-game winning streak ended while All-Star guard Tracy McGrady sat out his 10th consecutive game with a sore left knee.

 Atlanta Hawks 105, Bulls 84    Joe Johnson scored 37 points and pulled down nine rebounds, helping the Hawks halt a 12-game losing slide to the visiting Bulls, dating back to April 9, 2004.

 Luol Deng led Chicago (14-21) with 28 points after being sidelined for the last three games with a sore Achilles' tendon.

 Golden State Warriors 106, Indiana Pacers 101    Monta Ellis scored nine of his 29 points in fourth-quarter, Baron Davis added 27 and the Warriors handed the Pacers their ninth win in the last 11 games.

 Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers (17-22) with 27 points and Danny Granger added 20.

By Paul Levine, dpa