TORONTO – No shortage of things Stan Van Gundy could nitpick in the loss to Toronto to open his third season, but only one thing that really matters to him: toughness. The kind he didn’t see.
“They did the same thing to us in the exhibition game – they just punked us on the boards,” he said after the 109-91 loss to the Raptors. “So the rebounding was a major concern. Fifty-four points in the paint was a major concern. And 29 free-throw attempts – that just means a team took it right at you.”
Yeah, the Pistons had some handicaps. Reggie Jackson missed the game – just as he’ll miss the next 15 or 20 – and Andre Drummond was limited to seven minutes after picking up two quick fouls and a nasty Jonas Valanciunas elbow to the jaw that wobbled him 74 seconds into the season.
But that’s all just white noise to Van Gundy and his team, who gathered in Auburn Hills in September and have reminded each other daily since that the only way they take the next step to build off of last season’s 44 wins and playoff berth is to get better defensively.
Van Gundy saw signs in the preseason in fits and starts, but the opener was sobering for all concerned. They understand their offense might struggle without Jackson’s explosive playmaking ability, so they’ve convinced themselves they need to double down on the defensive improvement necessary to contend in the East. Getting out-toughed by Toronto wasn’t the start they envisioned.
“That bothers everybody in here,” said Tobias Harris, who led the Pistons with 22 points. “That’s not what we want our identity to be. We have to learn from it. Our next game, we have to really pick up our pace, pick ourselves up and prove ourselves out there on the floor.”
That will be Friday’s home opener against Orlando. First will come a Thursday practice that likely can be filed under “spirited.”
“We were outrebounded and we can’t win games like that,” said Drummond, who finished with 16 points and six boards in 24 minutes. “That’s rule number one. Offensively, we didn’t move the ball around at all. We made it really easy for their defense to set up on one side of the floor.”
As grim as it looked midway through the second quarter with Toronto leading by 10 and Drummond in the locker room going through concussion protocol tests – he passed – the Pistons somehow managed to pull within three points with just under three minutes to play. Then they went scoreless on their final five possessions, got outscored 9-0 and allowed the Raptors to take their biggest lead to that point, 12, to the locker room.
“Probably the crucial point in the game,” Van Gundy said. “Those guys on the floor just were really bad at both ends for 2:45.”
Any chance the Pistons had to cut into the lead after halftime was undercut by DeMar DeRozan, who scored 21 of his 40 points in the third quarter when he hit 10 of 14 shots.
“We didn’t have anybody who could make anything tough on him tonight at all,” Van Gundy said. “We probably should’ve run a second defender at him more and we didn’t. That’s a mistake on my part. But we didn’t make it difficult on him at all tonight. I thought his shots were relatively easy – for him.”
Toronto got another big scoring night, but not from the usual source, Toronto’s other All-Star and Olympic guard, Kyle Lowry. He finished with 10 points on 3 of 13 shooting. But Valanciuas – who got going early thanks to frequent trips to the line, 8 of 8 in the first quarter alone and 10 of 14 for the game – made up for it with 32 points and 11 boards.
And that wild elbow he swung early, knocking Drummond a little loopy, was as big a shot as any of the 17 DeRozan made.
“I was real shaken up,” Drummond said. “It took me a minute to really compose myself. Had to come back (to the locker room) for a little bit. It was kind of tough to get back in the swing of the game, being out for so long, but I did the best I could and played as hard as I could.”
Drummond told Valanciunas “no hard feelings,” understanding the guy he’s battled for four-plus seasons since both were rookies didn’t intentionally drill him when he swung his elbow through while making a move to the rim.
But it was the symbolic image of the season opener. And nobody who filed out of a somber locker room at Air Canada Centre was under any illusions that they can allow that storyline to linger for the length of Jackson’s absence.
“Until we change defensively and on the boards from what we’ve done in these last two games, it really doesn’t matter what we do offensively,” Van Gundy said. “We don’t have a chance to win and be good if we’re not going to defend and rebound. And we didn’t do either tonight.”