The Toronto Raptors defeated the Detroit Pistons on the road, but that victory crippled the NBA champions. Nick Nurse’s guys beat the rivals 112-99 but lost Marc Gasol and Norman Powell due to injuries.
This is something that might hurt the champions in the long run, as both of these guys have a tremendous impact on their game. Gasol had to leave the floor early, already in the first period, due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Powell hurt his shoulder in the fourth. The degree of the respective injuries is still unknown, and Toronto’s coach couldn’t say anything more than that.
“Don’t know much,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to check them both tomorrow.”
When we add that Fred VanVleet isn’t playing because of the knee injury, the overall impression is that the Raptors are going to have a lot of troubles in the near future.
However, Kyle Lowry, who posted a triple-double in this contest, isn’t worried. Raptors point guard accepts the fact that it might be difficult for his crew to play without all the starters but believes that the team has enough guys capable of stepping in and replacing the injured ones.
“It’s pretty tough for our team, but we’ve got a bunch of guys that have to step up now, and hopefully it’s nothing serious with those two guys,” he said.
“It’s pretty tough for our team, but we’ve got a bunch of guys that have to step up now, and hopefully it’s nothing serious with those two guys.”
But even with all these problems, they broke the Pistons resistance in Michigan. After a tight first period in which the hosts had a minimal lead, the champs woke up in the late part of the second, pulling away to six points at the break, 70-64.
In that quarter, Toronto dropped 40 points.
The guests would create a burst in the third period, once they dropped 11 straight points to gain a 90-76 lead. Up until that point, Detroit was always near. The final sequence was very tough, with both sides combining for 36 points.
As already said, Lyle Lowry had a triple-double, 20 points, and 10 assists and rebounds apiece. Though, his percentages from the field were again below the average, 5 for 17.
Pascal Siakam had a team-high 26 buckets, shooting threes 6 for 11. The Most Improved Player of 2019 added 5 boards and 4 rejections in this one.
Serge Ibaka had a wonderful role of the bench, and the Spanish international delivered 25 points and 13 rebounds, from which 7 were offensive. OG Anunoby scored 19 and had 8 rebounds.
On the other side, among the hosts, Andre Drummond had 22 buckets and 18 rebounds, while Derrick Rose scored 16 buckets. Blake Griffin added 15, and Bruce Brown 12. The Pistons would end the game with just 6 made three-pointers in 35 attempts, 17.1%. The Raptors had 13 in the same number of tries.
Up next, Detroit heads for Boston to face the Celtics on Friday. On the same day, the Raptors will play against the Washington Wizards at home.
