The Toronto Raptors suffered their third consecutive defeat on Monday night against the Detroit Pistons, 118–104.
And still, the Raptors have only won a single game this season on the second night of a back-to-back. Detroit, who currently holds the worst record in the Eastern Conference, has now beaten Toronto three times this season including twice by double digits. Not a good look for Nick Nurse’s men.
Notwithstanding, all Toronto starters finished with 10 or more in the Motor City, including 15 points from recent acquisition Gary Trent Jr. As a team however, the Raptors only shot just above 30% from beyond the arc, sinking just eleven of their thirty-six attempts from deep.
The Pistons were sharing the rock extremely well on Monday night and amassed 30 bench points by halftime. Collectively, they shot 50% from deep (15/30) and over 50% from the floor as a whole. Impressive team basketball from Dwayne Casey’s squad.
Canadian and former Raptor Cory Joseph, who was just signed on trade deadline day from Sacramento, impressed as a sixth man with 17, 5 and 5 on upwards of 60% shooting. He oozed confidence and gave a calming presence to a young Pistons squad in need of some direction. His veteran presence seemed like the perfect fit from a Detroit front office standpoint.
Saddiq Bey, Saben Lee and Hamidou Diallo also performed at a high level with 19 points each. Detroit has quite clearly had Toronto’s number this campaign as it appeared as if every single time these two clubs faced off recently, the Pistons’ chemistry went off the charts. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat off and give credit where credit is due.
The Toronto Raptors are in an extremely tough spot at the moment and will look to dig deep as they try to get back to winning ways in midweek when they travel to Oklahoma City. The Thunder, unfortunately, are deprived of both of their young Canadian stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort at the moment, both out with minor injuries. Tip-off on Wednesday at 8:00 pm EST.
Written by Thomas Debost
