Antonio McDyess grinned in embarrassment and blew a kiss to the crowd, his first point as a member of the New York Knicks finally on the board almost 14 months after he fractured his kneecap in a preseason game.

McDyess' point came from the foul line after he missed five shot attempts and a free throw, and he scored only one other point Monday night in a 79-78 overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons.

"I'm not going to step on the court and get 20 and 10 the first night. It's going to take time," McDyess said before the game.

He couldn't have been more correct.

The former All-Star and Olympian finally appeared in a regular-season game almost a year and a half after the Knicks acquired him. He was warmly received but played tentatively, showing plenty of rust while shooting 0-for-5 with two turnovers and three rebounds in 13 minutes.

Merely having him on the court was a welcome sight for the Knicks, who had yet to receive any dividends from Scott Layden's blockbuster draft night deal of two summers ago that cost New York two starters and a lottery pick.

As poorly as McDyess played, it was not his fault that New York lost the game. That blame could be spread around after the Knicks scored only nine points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth to fritter away a lead that had grown as large as 15.

Chauncey Billups scored seven of his 24 points in overtime for the Pistons, who walked off with the win after Mehmet Okur blocked Michael Doleac's jumper just before the final buzzer.

It was the third straight victory for the Pistons, one of only seven NBA teams who began the night with a winning road record.

Okur added 14 points, Corliss Williamson scored 12 and Ben Wallace grabbed 14 rebounds.

Allan Houston scored 20 for the Knicks but was not able to get off a final shot, losing control of the ball against the defense of Tayshaun Prince before recovering and finding Doleac for the last attempt.

A 3-pointer by Richard Hamilton with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter gave Detroit its first lead of the game, 67-66, and the Pistons stayed in front until Charlie Ward made a 14-foot jumper with 12.6 seconds left in regulation.

After Houston scored from the corner with 2:23 left in overtime for a 76-75 lead, neither team scored again until Billups lost control of the ball, recovered it in mid-air and sank a 14-footer while being fouled. He completed the three-point play for a 78-76 lead.

Houston tied it with a jumper over Wallace, but Ward hacked Billups on the arm as he went up for a shot with 6.7 seconds left. Billups made the first and missed the second, setting up the final sequence.

Notes:@ To make room for McDyess on the active roster, the Knicks placed F Mike Sweetney on the injured list with patella tendinitis. Sweetney joins the Knicks' other 2003 draft picks, centers Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes, on the IL. ... The Knicks, who had won four of their previous five, now embark on a five-game Western trip. ... The victory was Detroit's first of the season in games decided by three points or less. The Pistons had been 0-4 in such games. ... The Knicks, league leaders in free throw percentage, missed five of 14 attempts.

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