Shorthanded Raptors demolished by lowly Pistons in poor showing

Fresh off the wildest week the Toronto Raptors have endured this season, they were unable to come away with the victory against the Detroit Pistons to a score of 129-105.

The Raptors played this game without Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Patrick McCaw, and Malachi Flynn. Not only were the Raptors down bodies with their roster, Toronto was without Nick Nurse and five other members of the coaching staff.

Sergio Scariolo’s team started the game with great energy, jumping out the gates with eight unanswered points. It seemed like it would be smooth sailing for Toronto, despite being short six players. However, the Pistons quickly flipped the narrative after a timely Dwane Casey timeout.

What happened next proved how valuable those key stars are, as Toronto was helpless to stop Detroit at times.

Detroit would go on to score 43 points in the opening quarter and taking complete control of the game. Not only was the Raptors defense lackadaisical, but the Pistons also could not miss from three. Great minutes from Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder, and Saben Lee, were the deciding factor in the Pistons going into halftime with the lead.

The Raptors bench didn’t provide any offense one bit for Toronto. Chris Boucher was the only bench player to score in the first half, being one of five Raptors to score in the first half. Although the squad struggled tremendously, they only suffered a nine-point deficit going into the second half.

DeAndre’ Bembry, Stanley Johnson, Paul Watson, and Yuta Watanabe combined for a grand total of…0 points! How does that even happen?

A promising start to the third quarter quickly saw the same result as the first, as the Pistons continued to assert their dominance. Offense was the biggest issue, as Toronto just couldn’t make an open shot. Toronto went being down nine to quickly being down 21 points. The one glimmer of hope that the Raptors had was the play of Norman Powell.

Powell, who has been playing amazing as of late, really picked up the offensive load when the Raptors needed it the most. Powell finished with 36 points on an efficient 70 percent shooting from the field. Although Powell did his best to lead the Raptors to victory, the Pistons just played the better game.

The Pistons connected on 19 3-pointers, led by veteran Wayne Ellington who tied a career-high eight 3-pointers. Uncontested or heavily guarded, Ellington along with the rest of the Pistons team, were unconscious from beyond-the-arc.

In a game that saw Toronto struggling mightily, the absence of Siakam, VanVleet, and Anunoby proved to be very detrimental. However, the Raptors will need to have tunnel vision and shift their focus towards tomorrow night’s game against the surging Boston Celtics.