Dwane Casey Gets Revenge In Toronto, Pistons Top Raptors 108-106

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Dwane Casey Gets Revenge In Toronto, Pistons Top Raptors 108-106

The Detroit Pistons traveled to Toronto to face the Toronto Raptors, who fired Pistons head coach Dwane Casey’s this past off-season. This was also an early look at a potential first round playoff matchup. The Raptors are projected to hold the first seed in the Eastern Conference.

Blake Griffin and the Pistons squeezed out a gritty win against Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors. Raptors’ fans received Casey with plenty of love as expected. Before the game, Kyle Lowry spoke about his great relationship with his former coach. He pointed out that as a competitor he will still try to “..take his head off, and the team’s head off”.

The Pistons and the Raptors went toe to toe from the tip-off. Tension was in the air for Casey’s first of many returns to Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors were playing very strong perimeter defense early on, while Detroit relished the competition. As the game went on, both teams found their flow and the pace picked up. Toronto started getting stops and capitalizing on them. This led to the Pistons trailing 65-53 at the half.

Griffin had a strong showing all around as he was the constant threat on offense. He had 30 points and 12 rebounds; 20 of those came in the first half. The Raptors’ starting lineup took care of business with Leonard leading them with 26 points. They also were able to build their lead to 19, which was the biggest lead of the game. One of Toronto’s X-factors was Greg Monroe. The former Pistons big man tallied 17 points and 9 rebounds as his own form of revenge.

Takeaways

One major change that is evident more and more each game is the tenacity and the persistence this Detroit team plays with. Even after trailing by as much as 19, the Pistons put together a strong 22-7 run to cut the lead to four in the middle of the 4th quarter.

Stanley Johnson, who came into the league praised for his defensive prowess, showed how strong he can be as a defensive stopper. Johnson forced turnover after turnover by Leonard, who is one of the top five players in the league right now. The stops by the Pistons led to buckets in transition, which is exactly how coach Casey drew it.

This team as a whole has been criticized time and time again regarding the lack of offensive support Griffin gets on a nightly basis. Once again, Griffin had the stat line of the night. However, Johnson’s defense led to back to back three-pointers. It was Reggie Bullock who sank the buzzer-beating floater to clinch the win.

All in all, this win was also an encouraging sign for this Detroit team against, arguably, their toughest opponent this season so far.

 

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