Rodney Stuckey added 13 for the Pistons, who rebounded from a 90-78 loss in a showdown of Eastern Conference powers Wednesday in Boston and lowered their magic number to one for clinching their seventh straight playoff berth.
Prince was 0-of-10 from the field and scoreless in the Pistons' 89-65 loss here on Jan. 13, their most lopsided defeat of the season and one of the poorest offensive performances in team history. He went 9-for-17 this time, capped by a clutch runner that gave Detroit a 99-95 lead with 9.9 seconds left.
He combined with a strong bench effort to help the Pistons overcome the absence of starting forward Rasheed Wallace, sidelined by a sprained left ankle, and the loss of leading scorer Richard Hamilton to an ejection late in the first half.
Eddy Curry scored 23 points and Jamal Crawford had 17 for the knicks, who lost their fifth in a row.
The Knicks were again without starting forward Zach Randolph, who has a bruised right foot and returned home to Indiana on Thursday for a personal matter. He is expected to miss Saturday's game here against Portland and rejoin the Knicks in Dallas for their game Monday.
Detroit led by eight with 3 minutes left, then went cold offensively as New York closed to 97-95 on Crawford's free throws with 34 seconds to play. Prince answered with his bucket, and after Curry scored inside, Chauncey Billups made two free throws to clinch it.
The Pistons had a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter, but lost that
- and their poise - by halftime. Hamilton was thrown out during the Knicks' late run after getting two technical fouls for arguing with referee David Guthrie with 43 seconds left, and Nate Robinson's layup with 1.2 remaining tied it at 53.
