The Toronto Raptors just wanted it more than the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon, and rode that energy to a 119-108 win over the top team in the Eastern Conference. Brandon Ingram led all scorers with 34 points, but the biggest difference-maker in the game was Jakob Poeltl, who had 21 points and 18 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end.
It was the tipped passes, the second chances, and the ability to get to loose balls that defined the game. The Pistons lost the battle in the paint (56-50),
got edged in points off turnovers (16-12), and got doubled up in second-chance points (30-15), and got annihilated on the boards (60-46).
That is easily the worst rebounding differential for Detroit this season, and just the fourth time this season they’ve had a double-digit rebounding disadvantage in a game. They are 1-3 in those games, if you’re curious.
Perhaps it was also the poster’s curse. In my pre-game write-up of the game, I claimed that the return of Ausar Thompson was a bigger addition than the loss of Isaiah Stewart, who sat this one out with a calf strain. It didn’t take long to see that Ausar had plenty of rust to shake off after a five-game absence with his ankle sprain, and the Raptors getting to every loose ball that I wasn’t wishing for Beef Stew to enter the game. This one’s on me.
The Pistons didn’t play a terrible game, but on a night when both teams were playing at an extremely high level, the one who was hustling harder was obviously going to come out victorious, and that clearly fell in favor of the Raptors today.
The Pistons were led by Cade Cunningham, who scored 33 points and had just about everything in his bag working. He added nine assists, two steals, and three rebounds. Tobias Harris chipped in an efficient 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, and Jalen Duren added 20 points, 11 rebounds, and not enough resistance against Toronto’s penetrators and rebounders.
Interestingly, Daniss Jenkins, who has been struggling with some up-and-down play and questionable decision-making lately, was a healthy scratch in this one. Instead, JB Bickerstaff turned to Marcus Sasser (just three points in 11 minutes). Kevin Huerter knocked down his first three-point attempt and played OK in other phases, but didn’t take full advantage of his 14 minutes of action. That three represented his only points of the game. Caris LeVert played 20 minutes and had nine points on eight shots. It was an unremarkable game when the Pistons needed someone off the bench to stand out and do something.
The Pistons now get to spend the better part of a week in Washington D.C., for back-to-back games against the hosting Washington Wizards.
