"For 12 minutes, Pistons fans got to see the old Tracy McGrady.

In the second quarter of Sunday's game against his old team, the New York Knicks, he was unstoppable.

He played the entire second quarter, scoring 13 points on an assortment of jump shots, lay-ups, feeds from his teammates and drives to the basket.

His first-half line was impressive: 13 points, 6 of 7 field goals made, a three-point play after being fouled by Wilson Chandler, three rebounds and, showing his unselfishness, two assists.

"I felt pretty good today," said McGrady after the 125-116 double-overtime loss at the Palace. "I felt like I had a rhythm once I got the ball in my hands. That's just my game, having the ball and making plays. It opened a lot of things up and once that happens ... I told Coach I see a lot of things that can be helpful to our team as far as making cuts and getting easy baskets; something that we don't do a lot. I got a couple of easy baskets and everything else just started falling.

"I'm just gradually getting better with my game confidence-wise."

McGrady had said he'd get a 30-point game before the team's 20th game of the season, and for one quarter he was on track.

On Friday, he didn't play in the second half of the team's victory over Milwaukee because of sore leg muscles, but getting a chance to show the Knicks he still had game and a day of rest seemed to be the cure.

The 13 points represented a season high for the veteran guard/forward, and if the Pistons are going to sacrifice the development of second-year forward Austin Daye, then seeing McGrady's second quarter momentarily justified his acquisition.

McGrady played so well that coach John Kuester started him in the third quarter with the Pistons ahead by two, 55-53."