Pistons-Raptors Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Dec 19 2012 12:48AM

Andrea Bargnani's recent comments about the Toronto Raptors' ineptitude may have been somewhat accurate at the time, but his teammates are doing their part to change it.

While they may still be among the worst teams in the NBA, the Raptors are on the brink of their longest winning streak in more than two years, and a visit from the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night should help even though Bargnani can't.

Bargnani called the Raptors (7-19) "pretty much the worst team in the NBA" in Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport last week. He also said their 4-19 start was "tragic" and "a desperate situation."

Toronto has won three in a row since he made the comments, and the oft-injured Bargnani hasn't been much help. While he reportedly claimed he was misquoted, Bargnani has missed four games with a torn right elbow ligament that will keep him out indefinitely.

Kyle Lowry (triceps) has also missed the last four games, but his backup has the Raptors on the brink of winning four straight for the first time since Nov. 17-24, 2010. Two days after recording a triple-double in a victory over Houston, Jose Calderon scored a season-high 23 points in Tuesday's 113-99 win at Cleveland as Toronto snapped an 11-game road losing streak.

"At some point, you have to play and have some fun," said Calderon, who's averaging 18.3 points, 7.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds while hitting 58.3 percent over the past three games. "At the end of the day, it's a team sport. It's about doing it the right way and getting everyone involved - that's what we're doing right now."

Reserve swingman Alan Anderson (9.8 points per game) has scored 42 points while making half of his 24 field goals over the last two.

Anderson and Calderon weren't a factor in a 91-90 loss at Detroit on Nov. 23. While Calderon had five points off the bench and Anderson was out with an ankle injury, Bargnani led the way with a season-high 34.

The Raptors, 5-5 at home, have dropped six of seven matchups with Detroit but won the latest at home 103-93 on Feb. 22.

Had Bargnani been watching the Pistons (7-20) play recently, he might have a different assessment about which team is the league's worst. They've dropped five in a row, averaging 89.8 points on 40.2 percent shooting - 31.3 from beyond the arc.

Detroit is also 2-12 on the road, where it'll be for three of the next four games. However, that stretch includes a home-and-home set this weekend against Washington - the team with the NBA's actual worst record.

The Pistons' woes continued Monday as they turned the ball over 17 times while falling 88-76 at home to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"We did enough defensive things to win the game, but when you are going against a team that strips and steals the ball and is very aggressive, everything has to be sharp," coach Lawrence Frank said. "We have to be more precise."

Brandon Knight is trying to get back on track after totaling 30 points while shooting 11 for 33 from the floor in the past two games. The guard averaged 23.0 points over the previous five games.

Knight has averaged 17.5 points in four career meetings with Toronto.

DeRozan scores 23 as Raptors beat Pistons 97-91

By IAN HARRISON
Posted Dec 19 2012 10:54PM

TORONTO (AP) Coach Dwane Casey says a four-game winning streak shows his Toronto Raptors are finding ways to win.

That's something the Detroit Pistons still haven't figured out.

DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, Alan Anderson scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Raptors beat the slumping Pistons 97-91 Wednesday night.

"We're finding ways to win and that's the most important thing for our group," Casey said. "We're believing we can win, we're trusting each other, we're pulling for each other."

Jose Calderon had 17 assists, one shy of his season high, and Jonas Valanciunas scored 12 points for the Raptors, who last won four straight from Nov. 17-24, 2010.

Greg Monroe scored a career-high 35 points to go with 10 rebounds and Rodney Stuckey had 13 for the Pistons, who lost their sixth straight and fell to 2-13 on the road. Detroit is 0-17 when trailing after three quarters.

"We're trying to find out what we need to do to get back on track," Monroe said.

Pistons rookie Kyle Singler agreed.

"We've just got to learn how to win in the fourth quarter," Singler said. "I'm not quite sure how we're going to get there but we've got to learn to manage the fourth quarter better as a team and learn how to win."

Ed Davis had 11 points and nine rebounds for Toronto, which came in having lost six of the past seven meetings with Detroit.

As he did in Tuesday's road win at Cleveland, Anderson helped seal it for Toronto with a trio of 3-pointers in the final quarter.

"He's the underdog and he plays like an underdog," Casey said. "He's hungry. That's the way you have to play in this league."

The Pistons missed 12 of 30 free throws, with rookie center Andre Drummond going 2 for 7 and Stuckey hitting only two of his five attempts.

"We missed 12 free throws, we missed 24 shots in the paint and that resulted in the outcome," head coach Lawrence Frank said.

Point guard Brandon Knight struggled with his shooting, making just one of 10 field goal attempts and finishing with two points.

Monroe, however, was all but unstoppable, surpassing his previous career best of 32 by hitting 14 of 22 shots.

"The game slowed down a little bit for me tonight," Monroe said. "Once I got into a rhythm, things seemed to be a little bit easier."

Anderson made one of three from the line to begin the fourth then added a 3-pointer on Toronto's next possession. Just over five minutes later he connected again, making 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Raptors up 88-77 with 6:25 left.

"That's what he does," DeRozan said. "If a couple of us don't have it going, he's definitely one guy we can go to to get points or create something for somebody else."

Monroe scored four points as Detroit cut the deficit to four with a 7-0 run over the next 3:30, but a 3 by Calderon made it 91-84 with 2:29 remaining.

"I've always had a great deal of respect for (Calderon)," Frank said. "He's a super competitor and has just great moxie."

DeRozan scored 10 points and Valanciunas had eight to give the Raptors a 27-23 lead after one quarter.

Toronto led 49-43 with 1:02 left in the first half but Detroit knotted the score with a 6-0 run, including a tip-in by Singler at the buzzer, tying it 49-all at intermission.

Monroe had 14 points in the third, while DeRozan had 11 for the Raptors, who took a narrow 74-71 lead into the fourth.

NOTES: Stuckey returned after sitting out Monday's loss to the Clippers with back spasms. ... Detroit recalled G Kim English and F Khris Middleton from Fort Wayne of the NBA Development League. ... Calderon had a season-high 18 assists against Orlando on Nov. 18. His career best is 19, set twice. Calderon assisted on eight of Toronto's first 10 field goals and had nine assists in the first quarter alone. Toronto's record for assists in a single quarter is 11, set by Doug Christie.

Notebook: Raptors 97, Pistons 91

Duane Watson, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:57 PM - Updated Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:57 PM

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (8-19) won their fourth game in a row, defeating the Detroit Pistons (7-21) 97-91 at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday. The four-game streak is their first since November 17-24, 2010 and the Raptors are 6-5 at home. DeMar DeRozan led Toronto in scoring with 23 points and Alan Anderson added 16 off the bench. Jose Calderon added a game-high 17 assists and 7 points, Jonas Valanciunas scored 12 and Ed Davis had 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Raptors, who won their second game of a back-to-back.

Despite shooting .588 for the half, the Raptors were tied at 49 with the Pistons heading into the break. Greg Monroe single-handedly kept Detroit in the game, scoring 14 of the team's 22 points in the third quarter. them in the game, only down a basket, 73-71. Toronto started the fourth quarter on a 15-6 run, with 10 of those points from Anderson, giving them their biggest lead of the game at 88-77, a lead they never surrendered, Monroe's 24 second-half points withstanding.

Even with a career-high 35 points from Monroe and 10 rebounds, 6 of which were on the offensive glass, Detroit lost their sixth game in a row. Rodney Stuckey was the only Pistons player in double figures with 13.

QUOTABLE: "There are a million different ways to win or lose a game and right now we're finding ways to win. That's the most important thing for our group, finding ways to win."
-- Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey

THE STAT: 26 assists on 35 made baskets for the Raptors shows that this team, particularly with Calderon at the helm knows how to move, and more importantly share the basketball.

TURNING POINT: With 31 seconds left in the game at 91-87, Stuckey turned over the ball on an entry pass to Monroe that was stolen by a diving Amir Johnson. Stuckey pounced on Johnson to force a jump ball, but Johnson won the ensuing tipoff and the Raptors were able to cruise to a win.

QUOTABLE II: "I've been playing with him for four years, until he gets 40 assists, then he'll surprise me. He knows how to find guys in their sweet spots and get guys going."
-- DeRozan on Calderon's playmaking ability.

HOT: Monroe was unstoppable for the Pistons, scoring at will in the paint, with 35 points for the game and 24 in the second half. He added 10 rebounds for the game with 6 on the offensive glass, there was no match up or adjustment the Raptors could make to stop him.

NOT: Pistons guard Brendan Knight struggled, shooting 1-for-10 from the field for only two points, with five assists and four rebounds and two turnovers.

BAD MOVE: The Raptors failed to box out and were ineffective keeping the Pistons off the offensive glass. In the first half Detroit had 13 offensive rebounds in comparison to the Raptors 13 total rebounds. They ended up finishing the game with 22 offensive boards and 44 in total.

NOTABLE: Calderon had nine of his game-high 17 assists in the first quarter. The Raptors have lost six of their last eight games versus Detroit, but have won the last two both at home, (103-93 on 2/22). The Pistons are now 2-13 on the road this season. The Raptors are now 4-4 in the second game of back-to-backs' this season and are 8-6 when holding opponents to under 100 points.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors; Friday vs. Orlando, Wednesday @ San Antonio, Friday @ New Orleans. For the Pistons; Friday vs. Washington, Saturday @ Washington and Wednesday @ Atlanta.

• Pistons: English, Middleton
• Raptors: Bargnani, Lowry

• Pistons: Drummond
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 12

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #42 Eric Lewis, #72 J.T. Orr
• Attendance: 17062
• Duration: 2:22