The Toronto Raptors lost to the Detroit Pistons 114-101, ruining their chances of a season sweep at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
With Kyle Lowry taking a game off due to rest, the Raptors didn’t seem to be themselves throughout the game. At one point, they were even down by 26 points in the fourth quarter, before the Raptors took out the rest of their starters in defeat.
The Detroit Pistons played a great team game, leading to their fourth straight win. They were great defensively, not allowing Terrence Ross‘ 27 points to have an impact on the game, while Andre Drummond led them with 15 points and 18 rebounds.
Offence: B
Tonight’s matchup was all about seeing if the Toronto Raptors were able to produce without their All-Star point guard, while staying composed after a big win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Raptors they fell short of that goal, as well as the chance to come only a game behind the Cavaliers for the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference.
The bright spots of the offence were Delon Wright and Ross, who both benefitted from Lowry’s absence. Ross was able to put up 11 more shots than his usual on his way to 27 points. While Delon Wright set a career high in minutes with 30, on his way to 13 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and only 1 turnover.
A positive for the Raptors offence is that were able to reach 100 points, because of only giving up 5 turnovers- their second lowest total this season.
Defence: C
The Raptors weren’t able to stop the Pistons from executing their game plan, as they watched them convert on 52.1 per cent of their shots from 3-point distance, and score 44 points in the paint.
As mentioned before, the Pistons played a great team game which resulted in all their starters scoring in double digits. Reggie Jackson was solid at leading the Pistons, scoring 19 points and dishing out 8 assists. Drummond was also a beat down low, making his way to his 13th straight game with a double-double, which included this jam.
We see you, Andre Drummond! https://t.co/ZldZyzoyZP
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) February 29, 2016
The worst defensive stretch for the Raptors came in the third quarter, when they let the Pistons go on a 19-8 run in the final 6 minutes of the frame. That run allowed to Pistons to outscore the Raptors by 17 points in the third quarter, after being tied at 52 at the end of the first half.
Rebounding: D
The Raptors had their second worst team outing on the glass tonight, only grabbing 32 boards. The highest rebounder for the Raptors was Bismack Biyombo, who grabbed 7 in around 21 minutes of play.
The Pistons, the third best rebounding team in the NBA, came away with 38 rebounds. They also picked up 7 offensive rebounds, allowing them to score more second chance points than the Raptors.
Game Ball: Delon Wright
Tonight’s game wasn’t the most interesting of the season. The Palace of Auburn Hills was able to watch Drummond complete his daily routine of plus 15 rebounds, while Tobias Harris worked on adjusting to the Pistons.
For the Raptors, they got a glimpse of what exactly Wright is capable of as the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft. Thanks to Cory Joseph finding himself in early foul trouble, Dwane Casey let the rookie run the floor for a consistent dosage -leading to this alley-oop.
The 6-foot-6 point guard showed agility, quickness, and the leadership to run a team. He wasn’t stellar, but good enough to allow him to play in more than 30 minutes of action. Another positive to his game was his 3-point shot, going 2-4 from distance in the defeat to the Pistons.
All stats for this article are from NBA.com
You can follow Bryan Meler on Twitter @BryanMelo97
