Stuck waiting and the last passenger just walked in! @Raptors #the6ix #torontoraptors #raptorsnation pic.twitter.com/goX5TvDtf6
— Laize Ann Bacay (@laizey_bones) February 28, 2016
Balanced scoring helps Pistons blowout Raptors
Marcus scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting with four assists and four rebounds, and while his stat line doesn’t look overly impressive, he had a nice all around game. He and Tobias Harris got the Pistons going in the second quarter, and he had a few really nice drives. When he wasn’t taking it all the way to the hoop, he was finding the open man for a good look.
Pistons final score: Detroit dominates Raptors for fourth straight win, 114-101 – Detroit Bad Boys
Cory Joseph contributed the Raptors losing depth with foul trouble, putting rookie third string point guard Delon Wright in position for big minutes. Wright has played well in the D-League this season and represented himself well thrust into a primary role tonight – but it wasn’t enough. He finished with 30 minutes, scoring 13 with 6 assists.
The Andre Drummond-Reggie Jackson duo was instrumental in getting the Pistons enough distance for the bench to make the close.
Drummond would likely have had sixth 20-20 game of the season if he hadn’t been a spectator for the fourth quarter. He accumulated 15 points and 18 rebounds through three quarters. Jackson also had the chance to prop his feet up, playing just 28 minutes, scoring 19 points and dishing 8 assists.
Raptors lay a stinker vs. Detroit Pistons | GANTER | Basketball | Sports
“This team is playing well but we didn’t come out with any defensive disposition whatsoever,” Casey fumed. “And this league will hand it right back to you. We’re not good enough. We’re not good enough to do it with Kyle or without Kyle when you come out without that defensive focus.”
The game was actually tied at the half, but Casey wasn’t fooled. He saw the writing on the wall and despite sharing those halftime concerns with his team, saw his worst fears unfold.
“Even in the first half we didn’t play with any defensive disposition,” he said. “They went where they wanted to with the ball. We didn’t take anything away. They shot as many threes or got as many rolls to bucket as they wanted so it was just a matter of time before the avalanche hit.”
Kyle Lowry gets night off, Raptors fall to Pistons | Toronto Star
The beneficiary of Lowry’s rest was rookie Delon Wright, who moved in a backup role to spot starter Cory Joseph.
Wright looked more comfortable as the game wore on — even if the last six minutes were garbage time — and finished with 13 points and six assists in 31 minutes.
“Once he got more aggressive, he started doing better things and that’s the one thing about being a rookie, sometimes you don’t want to be too aggressive,” Lowry said.
The first start of Joseph’s Raptors career was average. He got two fouls in the first five minutes, played only 20 and never got going.
“Cory’s got to be able to handle the starting role, he was out of his element starting but again, we’ve got to be able to handle adversity, handle situations like that, that are not normal when Kyle or DeMar or Jonas are out,” Casey said. “It’s another example of . . . you’re only a step away from being a normal team.”
Toronto gave up 37 points in the third quarter, allowing Detroit to shoot 77.8 per cent from the field, and sent them to the free-throw line 10 times. It all contributed to the 114-101 blowout loss.
You didn’t have to go deep into your social-media feeds to see that fans were unhappy at Lowry’s absence.
“It doesn’t matter,” Casey said of the decision to rest Lowry after Friday night’s 43-point performance in the win over Cleveland. “We didn’t come to play. I don’t know what it was. We talked about it this morning. Any time you come out you are going to get every team’s best shot. You have to be able to handle success and understand when you get a pat on the back, it’s embarrassing when you can’t handle it.”
Game Rap: Raptors 101, Pistons 114 | Toronto Raptors
“We didn’t come to play. I don’t know what it was. We talked about it this morning, you’re going to get every team in this league’s best shot. You have to be able to handle success, understand when you get patted on the back, it’s embarrassing when you can’t handle it. We did not handle success. We came out like, okay. You can’t do that. This team is playing well. We didn’t come out with any defensive disposition whatsoever. This league will hand it right back to you. We’re not good enough [to take teams lightly]. We’re not good enough to do it with Kyle or without Kyle, come out without a defensive focus.”
– Dwane Casey on the lack of defensive disposition from his team
“We’ve got to understand we’ve got to be better on defence. No matter how we’re playing offensively we’ve got to be locked in and disciplined on the defensive end. That was the key in tonight’s game.”
– DeMar DeRozan on the team failing to show up defensively
“It’s kind of one of those things where Coach decided, ‘Look, I want to give you rest.’ So I thought alright cool I’m not going to fight things. Of course I would want to play, but [this is about] the long-term.”
– Kyle Lowry on the decision for him to sit out Sunday’s game.
With Kyle Lowry resting, Raptors fall to Pistons 114-101 – The Globe and Mail
“The ball’s got to go in to get an assist, so it’s both,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Our ball movement’s better, and because our ball movement’s better, we’re shooting the ball better. We played better offensively tonight, no question.”
Jackson had 19 points and eight assists for the Pistons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 16 points. Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris added 14 points each.
DeMar DeRozan, who scored 20 points for the Raptors, said the Pistons might have been fired up by the fact that Lowry wasn’t playing.
“That’s a team fighting for the seventh and eighth spots,” he said. “Every game matters to them. If they think we are relaxing against them, it is just going to make them play harder.”
Toronto, which turned the only five times, got 11 points from Jonas Valanciunas, his 11th-straight game in double figures.
Raptors suffer bad loss to Pistons, but no need to panic – Sportsnet.ca
Every Loss isn’t created equal
Quite simply, this performance was bad. Still, there’s no need to panic, especially considering the Raptors were without their second leading scorer. The Raptors have the third best record in the NBA since January 1 at 19-6. That mark is only behind the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs who have each lost just three times in that span. The Cleveland Cavaliers are behind Toronto with a 20-8 record in that timeframe.When you go back even further the Raptors are 28-12 since Dec. 1. Sunday night was a one off, don’t let that distract you from the fact Toronto is currently one of the hottest teams in the NBA and that trend isn’t especially new and has no reason not to continue.
After winning the last 10 games at home the Raptors have the next seven in the friendly confines of the ACC.
Raptors and Pistons could meet again in playoffs | Raptors
Point guard Reggie Jackson is even sounding a lot like a younger Dwane Casey when he talks about his team these days and singled out special praise in that department for his big centre Andre Drummond.
“Stops, stops,” he said when asked about the team success. “The big fella (Andre Drummond) is really helping us get stops and that just makes it easy.
“He’s doing everything we need him to do defensively and then he’s been a monster at setting screens latterly. I think he’s even understanding that he’s going to take a lot of beatings from people who want to stop him from getting lobs and chucking him. He’s taking on the challenge. He’s really maturing.”
Drummond had 15 points and 18 boards in the win over Toronto while Jackson led a starting five that was all in double figures in scoring with 19.
Pistons beat Raptors in Lowry’s absence – Article – TSN
Lowry sat out for the first time all season because the Raptors wanted to rest him after a 43-point performance against Cleveland on Friday. Toronto had its four-game winning streak snapped.
“To be a good team in this league, you have to be able to handle success, and we just embarrassed ourselves trying to do that,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We didn’t come out with any defensive disposition. That has nothing to do with Kyle. He doesn’t change anyone’s defensive focus.”
The score was tied at 52 at halftime before the Pistons broke it open with a 37-point third quarter. All five Detroit starters scored in double figures in the game.
Terrence Ross scored 27 points for the Raptors.
The Pistons shot a season-high 58 per cent from the field, and they were particularly efficient in the third quarter, when they went 14 of 18 to take an 89-72 lead into the fourth. Detroit finished with a season high-tying 28 assists and went 12 of 23 from 3-point range.
“The ball’s got to go in to get an assist, so it’s both,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Our ball movement’s better, and because our ball movement’s better, we’re shooting the ball better. We played better offensively tonight, no question.”
