March 3 & 17 – Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons
Matchup Rating: 4/5
The Raptors will have not one but two chances this month to get a win over their former bench boss, Dwane Casey. The franchise’s all-time winningest coach returned to Toronto last November and led his Detroit Pistons to a thrilling 106-104 victory.
But that was against the old Raptors team.
Toronto overhauled its roster and Casey won’t be as familiar with half the rotation now. But Detroit also made moves of their own, shipping away Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson and adding Wayne Ellington and Thon Maker among others.
To make matters juicier, Detroit is sitting at the 7th spot in the East. If things hold steady, the Raptors will be facing their former mentor in the first-round.
Detroit has a solid defense with a 108.3 defensive rating (11th). Where they struggle is on offense. The team is only 21st in offensive rating (107.3) and are a bottom-six team in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53).
Blake Griffin has been the team’s sole playmaker and he has carried them offensively, resulting in his first All-Star appearance in four seasons. Andre Drummond remains a force on the glass and has been more aggressive on offense but remains limited.
Detroit also chucks many threes (7th at 34.5) but shoots them poorly (34.2%, 26th). Toronto’s perimeter-oriented defense will make it harder for Detroit to get anything going from long-range. It may not be both games, but Toronto should get their first victory over Coach Casey.