The record-breaking win streak is over but the Raptors have recovered nicely with consecutive road wins over the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trailblazers. They continue on their road trip with a bunch of winnable games and the Eastern Conference lead seeming within reach if you skew things a little bit and squint hard enough at the big picture. Next up are the pesky Detroit Pistons, a team that seems like they should be an easy out but never actually end up being one.
The Incredibly Brief Scouting Report:
Under Stan Van Gundy the Pistons have quickly become 2009 Orlando Magic-lite with a shooters spread around a good pick and roll tandem. Right now that pick and roll tandem is not quite as good and the outside shooters are not quite as accurate but there is enough there to make the Pistons a tough matchup in any given game. They take a lot of threes, with centres Drummond and Aron Baynes being the only players in their entire rotation taking fewer than 3 threes per 36 minutes of play. Their defense seems solid at times and is currently ranked 11th in the NBA, but it has gotten progressively worse – their defensive rating has gone up every month and has been 17th in the league in the new year. Drummond is a good shot blocker but they have defenders who can targeted – whenever possible they should get Reggie Jackson and Ersan Ilyasova involved in pick and roll coverage because if the defense doesn’t break down immediately it will as the other Pistons try to figure out where they’re supposed to rotate.
Recent History:
It seems like it was only yesterday that the Raptors handed the Pistons a defeat in Toronto but it was actually about a week ago. The Raptors won the game by controlling the boards regardless of which big man they had in the game and by getting to the line at will which allowed them to shoot 47 free throws. Last year the clubs split four fairly even outings with the Raptors outscoring the Pistons by only 7 points over those four games. This may seem like a fairly easy win for the Raptors but recent history suggests that they’re in for another close game.
Matchup to Watch:
Jonas Valanciunas vs. Andre Drummond – Drummond is a great shotblocker, a beast on the boards and a draws a lot of attention as the roll man on the pick and roll but his free throw shooting is a big weakness and he’s not the one on one player that Valanciunas has evolved into. One way to neutralize the impact that a weakside shotblocker can have on the defensive end is to occupy them with the ball so this might be a good opportunity to feature Valanciunas a little more in the offense and see if the Pistons defenders can keep up with the Raptors cutters. On the defensive end it’s going to be up to the Raptors guards to keep the pick and rolls going toward the sideline, allowing pocket passes to Drummond but nothing going toward the rim. Valanciunas struggled in the first matchup this year but averaged 20 ppg on 64% shooting against the Pistons last year so he could rebound with a strong game if given the opportunity.
Injury Report:
Kentavius Caldwell-Pope – one of the best names in the NBA – should be out due to a groin injury suffered during a recent game against the Boston Celtics. DeMarre Carroll is still out for the Raptors and while James Johnson is listed as day to day he’s not expected to play.
What Will Make Me Happy:
Play Reggie Jackson to Score – Reggie is more of a lead guard than a point guard in the sense that he does the bulk of the ball handling but his natural instinct is to score. When he’s coming off a pick he’s looking for seams to attack with the dribble or for openings he can exploit for open shots, not looking to make the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the score. Because he struggles from midrange and isn’t a proficient passer he can be neutralized if you keep him out of the paint and chase him off the three point line.
Give Patrick Patterson All of the Minutes – this is more of a general key to success for the Raptors and has already been covered in detail on this site but this is also one of those matchups where Scola doesn’t make a lot of sense so Patterson needs major minutes. With the floor spread and shooters everywhere Scola’s footspeed is something of a liability on defense so keep Patterson out there and give the old man a little rest.
Put Them Away Early – Lowry and DeRozan have logged a lot of minutes and have a busy all-star weekend coming up, let’s not allow this to turn into a slugfest. Get up early, knock them down, step on their throats, let the next generation get some minutes.
