Toronto Raptors vs. Detroit Pistons Final Score: 113-104 Raptors drop final game of a challenging road trip

The depleted Raptors’ squad continues to struggle, and it’s high time they head home

In the final of a four game road trip, a still-depleted Toronto Raptors team faced the 11-53 Detroit Pistons. Luckily for the Raps, Immanuel Quickley returned for this matchup in the absence of RJ. Unluckily for the Raps, their woes against Detroit continued, falling by 9 points.

It’s hard not to be frustrated with the outcome of this game, but the reality of the Raptors’ current situation shouldn’t be lost on anyone. They’re missing 4 of their 5 regular starters, part of their bench, and they’ve just been on a week-long road trip from one end of the country to the other. To add insult to injury, they struggled from beyond the arc, shooting only 25% from long range. They lost the battle down low as well, being out-rebounded by Detroit 58-37, led by Jalen Duren who came up in a big way, finishing with 24 points and a career high 23 boards.

As much as we’d all like to see the Raps win games, the continued development of everyone on the roster has to be the focus on a night like tonight. Of course Quickley performed well, finishing with 25-5-8, but more importantly the contributions of guys like Olynyk and Porter should be the biggest focus, as both of those guys had big games tonight.

Kelly Olynyk opened up scoring for the game, followed immediately by a lob pass from Cunningham to Duren for a dunk. In the early minutes, it was obvious that the Raps were undersized, as the Pistons utilized a 6’ 10” Jalen Duren to own the paint on put-backs and dunks, cashing in 10 points in the first six minutes of the game. The Raptors were able to keep up though, led by Kelly Olynyk whose scoring and passing has been significant lately, especially with how short the bench has become. Quickley contributed effectively as well, cashing in 8 points in the first quarter, helping Toronto go on a 8-0 run to obtain a brief lead.

This was erased by some timely shot making for Detroit. Brown made 1 of 2 at the line to end the quarter, ending the frame down 27 – 32.

The defence saw the changes that needed to be made and forced a turnover on Detroit’s first possession. With shots starting to fall for the Raps as well, they were able to go on an unanswered 12-point run, preventing the Pistons from scoring for the first (almost) four minutes of the quarter.

It took over six minutes for them to obtain a field goal in the frame, the catalyst that allowed the Raptors to develop a comfortable lead. Porter was big in this quarter, showing some defensive prowess and a highlight pass to McDaniels for a slam. Quickley subbed in, but stayed quiet for the first couple minutes until he managed an impressive block from behind that he immediately turned into offence with a dunk.

Kelly Olynyk continued to facilitate as well, helping encourage ball movement, passing and cutting that worked well for the Raps. The continued effort on defence resulted in a 16 point lead after a pair of free throws by IQ, but in the final 3 minutes the Raptors started leaking oil and Detroit took advantage, headed into the locker room with a diminished 57-52 advantage.

To start the second half, bad turned into worse. It took the Pistons only two minutes to tie up the game, and a long range corner shot by Isaiah Stewart gave Detroit a 3-point lead. Despite the struggles, the Raps showed continuous effort, trying to work their way back into the game.

IQ and Olynyk showed off some nice two-man action that kept the game within one possession throughout the opening minutes of the third. Duren’s size continued to be an issue for the Raps, but everyone continued to chip in, moving without the ball, contesting shots, and staying aggressive on defence. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Detroit a two-possession advantage to close the quarter 83-79.

In the final frame, the lead for the Pistons only grew. Shooting woes set in, and Toronto found themselves with a number of empty possessions, struggling on offense. At times they were leaving the ball short, but turnovers and blocks also plagued them, allowing the Pistons to slowly build a double digit lead.

The highlight play from the quarter was a steal by Olynyk that lead to this impressive dunk by Ramsey:

In the fading minutes of the quarter, Toronto tried to string together some offence, and managed to cut the lead to 6, due mostly to mistakes by Detroit, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead. Toronto left Detroit with their fifth straight loss, including all four of the games in this road trip.

On a much lighter note, this was a great opportunity for some of the guys that don’t get many minutes to work through mistakes and show what they’re capable of.

Jontay Porter’s defence against Jokic earlier in the week, and now against Detroit’s bigs was pretty impressive. Despite the fact that he’s rather undersized as a center, he’s shown a good defensive IQ and always seems to be in the right spot. He is happy to fight down low for rebounds and be a pesky defender, even at great cost to himself at times, like when he caught the elbow of near 7-footer James Wiseman. On top of that, he’s showing some offensive prowess, actively looking for his teammates and finding them moving off the ball effectively. He managed 10-6-6 on the night with a steal and 4 blocks, being one of the biggest contributors off the bench. He’s an intriguing part of the team, and it’ll be interesting to see what the Raptors decide to do with him moving forward.

Kelly Olynyk is continuing to impress since his trade to Toronto as well. This game was a perfect example of what he can bring to the team, and lends legitimacy to the extension he signed with the Raps. His passing chops continue to be one of the most significant parts of his game, but it’s obvious he can do a lot for them, just in the way he reads opposing defences. His screen setting and seals down low show his ability to read the game, even if his teammates don’t always pick up on it and the play doesn’t develop, he’s doing what he’s supposed to and that’s encouraging. He managed to draw a charge in this matchup, in true vet style, and finished with 19-6-8 with 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Now the Raptors will be able to return home, in the first of a pair of matchups against Orlando. The first of the two-game series will be on Friday at 7:00 pm on TSN.