AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? The Detroit Pistons spent much of last season answering questions about Larry Brown. They hope they won’t have to anymore.

The Pistons hugged their former coach before facing him for the first time – and then played like the team that won him his only NBA championship.

Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 40 points to lead Detroit past Brown and the New York Knicks, 106-98, Friday night, following a couple days of hype.

Brown returned to an NBA city he used to call home for the seventh time, but acknowledged this reunion was different. The Hall of Fame coach was fired in July, after insisting publicly he wanted to return.

“I want to get this behind me,” Brown said. “But I don’t know if it ever will.”

When Brown walked onto the court, he was jeered by most of the fans who noticed him before others began to applaud. Boos were slightly louder than cheers once he was introduced.

Just before the tipoff, however, the crowd roared when each of Detroit’s starters walked across the court to embrace Brown.

“I had two great years here,” he said.

Sonics 115, Cavaliers 108

Seattle – Rashard Lewis scored 26 points, and Seattle overcame a 34-point performance by LeBron James.

Warriors 107, Bobcats 100

Oakland, Calif. – Baron Davis had 21 points and 14 assists to lead Golden State to its fifth straight victory.

Timberwolves 113, Lakers 108

Los Angeles – Wally Szczerbiak scored 34 points, Kevin Garnett added 29, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.

Pacers 98, Trail Blazers 78

Portland, Ore. – Jermaine O’Neal scored 27 points and had 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.

Heat 98, Kings 87

Sacramento, Calif. – Dwyane Wade had 27 points and seven assists to lead Miami.

Suns 102, Nuggets 97

Phoenix – Reserve Eddie House sparked a fourth-quarter Phoenix rally with nine straight points.

Hornets 88, 76ers 86

Oklahoma City – David West scored 22 points, including a tiebreaking layup with 50.4 seconds left.

Grizzlies 91, Magic 69

Memphis, Tenn. – Mike Miller scored 25 points and led Memphis to its fourth straight win.

Bulls 106, Celtics 102

Boston – Luol Deng scored 10 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter. Paul Pierce had 43 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Boston.

Bucks 105, Wizards 102

Washington – Maurice Williams scored 14 of his career-high 32 points in the fourth quarter.

Raptors 102, Hawks 101

Atlanta – Rookie Charlie Villanueva scored 22 points.

Late Thursday game

Lakers 105, Jazz 101, OT

Salt Lake City – Sasha Vujacic made a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in overtime to lead Los Angeles.