FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Thursday night’s 108-106 win over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena
A WILD WIN – The Pistons completed a 2-1 road trip by cashing in on the inexplicable advantage they seem to hold over a Toronto team that’s been one of the best in the NBA since Dwane Casey oversaw a successful rebuilding effort. This one was wild, the Pistons holding on before a passionate Toronto crowd and a manic Raptors rally to win thanks in part to a big defensive play by Cade Cunningham in the closing seconds. Since Casey has come to the Pistons, they’re now 9-3 against Toronto with a perfect 3-0 record this season. The Pistons built an 18-point lead on the strength of high-functioning offense, then had to grind out a win when shots stopped falling over the game’s final 14 minutes. The Pistons had 90 points with their 18-point lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter after Raptors coach Nick Nurse was booted with two technical fouls, but Toronto – using a big lineup with no real point guard and high-energy reserve big men Precious Achuiwa and Chris Boucher leading an active defense – pulled within four points with four minutes to play. The Pistons led by seven with less than two minutes to play, but a Precious Achuiwa triple and Pascal Siakam layup pulled Toronto within two with 56 seconds to play. Achuiwa split a pair at the line with 37 seconds left to get within a point, but Saddiq Bey’s driving layup in heavy traffic and the shot clock about to expire with 14 seconds left gave the Pistons a three-point lead. Cade Cunningham blocked Gary Trent Jr’s layup and Scottie Barnes then missed a 3-pointer off a loose-ball scramble. The Pistons got called for a foul with seven-tenths of a second to play but after Achuiwa made the first free throw, his miss on the second saw the clock run out before Toronto could gain possession.
BIG 3 – When the Pistons get all three of Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Jerami Grant rolling, their offense functions at a level much above their No. 29 offensive rating. The Pistons got off and running against Toronto because Cunningham, Grant and Bey combined for 24 first-quarter points on 14 shots. They wound up combining for 71 points against the Raptors. Cunningham wound up with his seventh double-double of the season in finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists – and a blocked shot on Gary Trent Jr. in the final seconds to prevent the tying basket. A prominent subtext of the game was the story of rookies Cunningham, Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January, and Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, who won the award in February. The former high school teammates at Montverde (Fla.) Academy and the first and fourth picks in the 2021 NBA draft are in the thick of the Rookie of the Year race. Barnes finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
IN AND OUT – One game after returning from a five-game absence with back spasms, Frank Jackson was sidelined again with the same malady. Jackson played 14 minutes in Tuesday’s loss at Washington, hitting 1 of 4 from the 3-point line, but Dwane Casey said before the game Jackson would be a game-time decision after experiencing some recurring back pains. Also missing for a third straight game was Marvin Bagley III, who sprained his left ankle on Saturday. That again opened playing time for Rodney McGruder and rookie Isaiah Livers, who had played in just one game prior to the road trip but has appeared in the last three games now. Rounding out the second unit were Killian Hayes, Kelly Olynyk and Hamidou Diallo. Diallo finished with 11 points, four rebounds and a steal to give him an NBA-best 57 steals since Dec. 18 despite playing mostly off the bench over that time. Casey cut down his rotation in the second half, skipping Livers.