Such a fun game. The Siakam show.
 | DET Pistons | 113 | Final Box Score | 125 | TOR Raptors |  |
 A+ | P. Siakam30 MIN, 30 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 13-21 FG, 3-6 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 20 +/- A world ender. A destroyer of worlds. Siakam has made the superstar turn, and there’s no other way to frame it. He abuses small players in the post, shakes bigs out of their shoes on the perimeter, and bangs in triples on defenses that pack the paint. There has been no recourse to stop him this season. | ||||||||
 A+ | O. Anunoby37 MIN, 13 PTS, 8 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 6-10 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 19 +/- Brought it early for the Raptors before Siakam took over the game. Found soft spots for basket cuts, ran in transition and was a hound above the break defensively. Helped out on the glass again. 5 games in a row of virtually mistake free basketball. | ||||||||
 A- | M. Gasol15 MIN, 6 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 11 +/- Got banged around a little bit, but his time in the game was good. Disciplined defense on Drummond, who is a very tough player to deal with. It seems he’s quickly left the shaky start to the season in the past. | ||||||||
 A+ | K. Lowry38 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL, 7-13 FG, 2-6 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 13 +/- Ever the pace master of the Raptors. Potent running the wing as a spot-up threat, and active when relocating off-ball. Had a couple of those “let me take it to the rack real quick” possessions where he bodies the opposing point guard under the basket. A perfect complimentary piece to Siakam’s explosion. | ||||||||
 A+ | F. VanVleet30 MIN, 13 PTS, 1 REB, 11 AST, 1 STL, 5-9 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 21 +/- Still operating extremely well as the top of the Raptors 5-out offense. Got the ball to players in a timely fashion and kept a live and dangerous dribble at all times. He was the picture of poise and composure in this one. | ||||||||
 A+ | S. Ibaka32 MIN, 19 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 9-15 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 7 +/- Still operating as a 6th man of the year candidate. He was deadly in the mid-range and active on the dive. Bench bigs really don’t have a clue what to do with him, and they’re getting outclassed game in and game out. | ||||||||
 A+ | N. Powell29 MIN, 19 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 7-10 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-3 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/- This is the game we’ve been waiting on. Picked out his drives well, avoiding the help-side defense and finishing strong. Man, he shot the ball just like he did in the pre-season, and that’s a very good thing. This could be a big precursor for the next little while. | ||||||||
 A- | P. McCaw23 MIN, 5 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 2-3 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -10 +/- Really active defense, swiping the ball and getting out on the break. Despite the triple he hit (which was good) he still gums up the offense quite a bit, but this game was a big step relative to how he usually operates on offense. I still like Terence Davis II for the 8th man, but this was a nice night from the 3-time champ. | ||||||||
 Inc | C. Boucher4 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/- Got some Drummond swats. If Nurse can find Stanley Johnson minutes in the second quarter of other games, I’d like to see Boucher get minutes outside of garbage time. His length and activity dominates in the broken garbage time type of play (lots of run-outs, and rim-runs). He’s shown enough that he should get a shot against more engaged players and schemes. | ||||||||
 A | Nick Nurse 38 minutes for Lowry isn’t as bad as it looks with the amount of time he’s spending off-ball, but it’s still a lot in a game like this. Pretty disappointed with the lack of run any of the depth pieces got, but there was no problem at all with the gameplan and he coached his team to a victory. There’s not much else to want from him. | ||||||||
Things We Saw
- Drummond has a really effective jump-stop and scoop to the rim. He did it five or six times in this game, and it’s a pretty cool addition to his repertoire. He’s been top-notch with Griffin out, and I hope they both play at their peaks at some point this year, together.
- There’s something about small, floater lovin’ bench guards that just eviscerate the Raptors. The Raptors dominated this game throughout, but that part of the Pistons bench almost brought it all the way back in the second. For some reason this weakness has followed the Raptors for the better part of 10 years. Weird.
- Consider me proven wrong. I had a multitude of conversations about VanVleet prior to this season, and I doubted him as a lead guard in all of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always thought he’s very good. I just thought that he was very good as a top-flight role player, and man he’s proving me wrong every game.
