 are assured the best record in the Eastern Conference among teams with an eligible head coach through this Sunday's deadline. Milwaukee has the top mark in the East but Mike Budenholzer is ineligible because he coached in the All-Star Game last year.Toronto is one win shy of its franchise record for consecutive victories.The Pistons are without Griffin (left knee surgery), and Luke Kennard (bilateral knee tendinitis) also missed the game. Andre Drummond had 20 points and 20 rebounds for Detroit, but much of that came when the Pistons were well behind.Toronto led by 16 in the first half. It was 78-69 after three quarters, and then the Raptors went on an 18-5 run to start the fourth - to the delight of their many fans who attended the game just a few minutes from the U. S.-Canada border.Drummond was scoreless in the first half but finished with his 41st game of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. That's four shy of Bob Lanier's franchise record, but it's not clear if Drummond has time to reach that mark. He's been the subject of trade speculation.Detroit guard Derrick Rose made a late layup to finish with 21 points, his 14th straight game with at least 20.SELECTEDDetroit's Svi Mykhailiuk was picked to play in the Rising Stars game Feb. 14 during All-Star weekend in Chicago. The 6-foot-8 Mykhailiuk, in his second season as a pro, has shown some promise for the Pistons. He scored 13 points Friday.TIP-INSRaptors: Marc Gasol (left hamstring tightness), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (right ankle sprain) and Malcolm Miller (neck strain) missed the game. ... Toronto won 11 games in a row from Feb. 26 to March 16, 2018, and in January 2016.Pistons: Detroit was outscored 66-28 in the paint.UP NEXTRaptors: Host Chicago on Sunday.Pistons: Host Denver on Sunday.---Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Jan 30, 2020Dwane Casey's second season as head coach of the Detroit Pistons has been much rockier than the first.The Pistons made the playoffs last season with All-Star forward Blake Griffin leading the charge. They also swept the season series from eventual NBA champion Toronto, Casey's former team.However, Griffin has missed most of this season and underwent knee surgery a month ago. Detroit is floundering without him, including its first two meetings with the Raptors this season.They'll play the third game of the four-game season series at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena on Friday.The Raptors defeated the Pistons 125-113 on Oct. 30 and 112-99 on Dec. 18. Toronto will try to extend its nine-game winning streak after defeating Cleveland 115-109 on Thursday.The losses have continued to pile up for Detroit, which enters Friday's contest with a four-game losing streak.Brooklyn defeated the Pistons twice during that stretch, including a 125-115 outcome on Wednesday. Both teams shot 50.6 percent from the field but the Pistons committed seven more turnovers than the Nets."I was very disappointed," Casey said. "It was 28-8 between the first four minutes of the first quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. That's what's disappointing in a relatively statistically close game." Casey was also disappointed in the play of rookie forward Sekou Doumbouya. The Pistons were outscored by 20 points during Doumbouya's eight scoreless minutes."There's a lot of things that are going on. It's about being a pro. He's 18 or 19 years old, [it] isn't easy. He has to grow up," Casey said. "He's got the talent, it's there. It's in there, we just have to continue to develop him not only as a basketball player, but as a young man. There's a lot of things he needs to understand about what it means to be a pro." The Pistons were playing catch-up throughout the second half."I think guys were definitely getting frustrated," reserve big man Christian Wood said. "I think there were a couple missed calls here and there, but just got to play through it -- we've got to learn how to play through it." The Raptors played without center Marc Gasol, who is nursing a hamstring injury, at Cleveland. They rode the scoring of forward Serge Ibaka, who had 26 points, and the formidable backcourt duo of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet to their latest victory.Lowry had 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals, while VanVleet contributed eight points, seven rebounds and 12 assists."Those two guys are really complete players," coach Nick Nurse said of Lowry and VanVleet. "They've got the point-guard mentality where they're going to run the team. They're going to play with toughness, IQ, lead by example -- those kinds of things rub off on the other guys a little bit."Both shoot the ball well, [both are] capable of getting in the paint and scoring, putting their body on people. But they defend, man," Nurse added. "They get up into people. They take charges, block bigger guys out. They're very similar players -- one 10 years younger than the other -- but they play very similar to each other." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Toronto Raptors
Detroit Pistons
Pick Center
NBA
FINAL (1/31/2020)
MrSoccer
