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Takeaways: Toronto Raptors use big night from Serge Ibaka to dispatch Pistons

By Michael Walton

DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 18: Pascal Siakam #43, and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors hi-five each other against the Detroit Pistons on December 18, 2019 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 18: Pascal Siakam #43, and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors hi-five each other against the Detroit Pistons on December 18, 2019 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors – Serge Ibaka (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Toronto Raptors are now on a three-game winning streak following a 112-99 road win over the Detroit Pistons. What did we learn from this injury-riddled victory?

The Toronto Raptors have experienced little in the way of a “championship hangover.” So far this season, they’re looking like one of the best teams in the NBA and are currently 19-8. A big part of the formula for teams that plan to play long into June is taking care of business early and often in the regular season. This means beating the teams you clearly should and picking up wins when your team is undermanned/injured as well. The Raptors were able to pull off both of those things on Wednesday night.

In a 112-99 victory over the Pistons in Detroit on Wednesday night, the Raptors let the Pistons hang around for a while before eventually locking in on defense and pulling away. Coming off of their convincing, 20-point blowout win over the lottery-bound Cavaliers on Monday, the Raptors were looking to get a win over a team that actually figures to at least be in the postseason picture.

Detroit gave up a whopping 133 points in their prior loss to the Washington Wizards, but with Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond back in the picture, they expected to be much more competitive against the Raptors. Both bigs returned to action for head coach Dwane Casey and co. on Wednesday, looking to help the squad avoid back-to-back losses. Casey—as a former longtime Toronto Raptors head coach—always has his Pistons teams prepared against a Toronto Raptors organization he obviously knows a lot about. Last season, Detroit managed to go 4-0 against Toronto.

Wednesday’s game had 11 lead changes and was tied 9 times, a testament to how hard the Pistons fought against the Raptors on Wednesday. Ultimately the huge gap between the two teams in terms of shooting efficiency was too large for Detroit to overcome. Behind a balanced scoring effort that contained three (and almost four) Raptors going for 20 points, Toronto was able to sink the Pistons comeback efforts down the stretch.

However, despite the win, this game was a bit of a disappointment for the Raptors due to a couple of key injuries. What did we learn from the disappointing win?

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