The Toronto Raptors (6-7) snapped a two-game losing streak as they dismantled the Detroit Pistons (2-12) in a 142-113 home win on Sunday afternoon.
Quite frankly, there weren’t enough superlatives to describe the ease with which the Raptors took said wire-to-wire win, but let’s try anyway.
Toronto never trailed once, led by as many as 40 points, had eight players reach double-digit scoring, set a franchise record for assists in a game (44), and tied a franchise record for points in a home game.
Pascal Siakam led the way with 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, as the Raptors handed the Pistons their 11th consecutive loss. His seventh consecutive game of 20+ points against Detroit, and that was also his third game in the last five with 20+ points. The forward even snapped an 0-17 streak from distance as he splashed a three in the third quarter.
Scottie Barnes was a “do it all,” player once again as he had a near triple-double with 17 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.
Meanwhile, Jakob Poeltl had his best game of the season as he notched a 16-point, 10-rebound, double-double on a perfect 6-6 shooting from the field. The Austrian big man looked sharp on both ends of the floor. On offence, when he wasn’t scoring Poeltl was dishing the ball out of the elbow area effectively, even finding Dennis Schröder with a slick bounce pass for one of his four dimes on the afternoon. On defence, he was a deterrent all game especially inside the painted area, contesting anything that came his way with clean verticality and finishing with three blocks as a result.
“Today was one of those days where the ball was on a string for us,” said Jakob Poeltl post-game. “Everybody was sharing the ball, everybody was moving well, you create a lot of easy shots that way.”
On the other side, Cade Cunningham was the only starter for Detroit in double-figures as he had 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Rookie Stanley Umede looked impressive off the bench in the loss as he tallied a season-high 19 points on 83 per cent shooting for a Pistons team that remains winless in the month of November.
Following a week where Toronto had to make a 23-point comeback, got picked apart by a Giannis-less Bucks team, and lost their first In-Season Tournament game right at the end, it was nice to see the Raptors pick up a victory in convincing fashion.
Maybe they realized it was Grey Cup Sunday and wanted to wrap up the game quickly so they could catch some CFL action. Shout out to the Montréal Alouettes by the way.
Schröder scored 11 of his 17 points in the first quarter, Precious Achiuwa had 12 points and five assists, Gary Trent Jr. dropped a bench-high 18 points, and Chris Boucher drilled three triples in the fourth quarter.
“Our starters set the tone, but also the guys coming off the bench really took us to another level,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković after the win.
Unsurprisingly, the 29-point victory was the Raptors’ largest of the season, along with 142 points being their best scoring output. Toronto shot 53.9 per cent from the field and 38.9 per cent from beyond the arch as eight different players knocked down a triple. Barnes and Boucher led the way, each going 3-4 from long range.
Not to be forgotten in the big win was OG Anunoby who made his return after missing three games with a finger laceration. He struggled shooting as he finished 2-11 from the field, but did a bit of everything else, as he usually does, racking up five boards, three assists, and two steals.
It was as much of a “get right,” game as any of the fans or players could’ve asked for. Now the Raptors will hope to keep the momentum rolling when they return to action on Tuesday to take on the Orlando Magic in the first leg of a road back-to-back.
