Mar 29, 2013; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Toronto Raptors power forward Amir Johnson (15) attempts to block Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (1) during the third quarter at The Palace. Raptors won 99-82. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
At least the Pistons played well for the opening 5 minutes. Progress!
Tonight marked the return of the Andre Drummond. And trust me, the fun was definitely back. The results still may not be there, but you can actually somewhat enjoy watching a Pistons game again.
Drummond played well in his first game back from a stress fracture in his back that kept him out over a month, scoring 17 points in 18 minutes. He and Calderon seemed to mesh well on offense, at least in the first half. While Drummond and Monroe were on the court together they had a putrid net rating of -17.5. While the numbers showed they struggled, there were a couple of nice high-low passes from Monroe to Drummond for easy dunks.The two are going to have to work well together for the Pistons to have a bright future, and tonight they showed flashes of just how they can do it. While Monroe didn’t have a great game shooting the ball — just 3-11 from the field– he still rebounded and passed the ball extremely well.
Still, with all the excitement of the return of the magical Andre Drummond, your 2013 Pistons are still the 2013 Pistons. And that means disappointment.
Overall the team played extremely poorly aside from the first 5 minutes or so. After the first burst of energy they displayed early in the game, probably from the return of Drummond, they simply couldn’t stop anybody. The Raptors slowly but surely cut into an early 10 point deficit and won the game 99-82 after an embarrassing second half.
In the first half the Pistons just couldn’t slow down Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. Yes, I just said Detroit failed to stop Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas from killing them. By halftime they had helped Toronto take the lead and Toronto never looked back. It definitely helped that Rudy Gay exploded for 17 points in the 3rd quarter. Toronto’s lead ballooned to as much as 27 early in the fourth quarter. Letting the Raptors post an offensive efficiency of 112.6 is no way to win a basketball game.
Hey Raptors fans, Rudy Gay had 21 points on 14 shots! That must some sort of Toronto Rudy Gay record, right? Of course it would come against this sad, sad Detroit Pistons team. At least Jonas Jerebko shot the ball really well. That’s got to count for something, right?
Sunday night, Detroit will travel to Chicago to take on a Bulls team who will be on the second night of a back to back. But wait there is more bad news. Brandon Knight re-injured his right ankle mid-way through the 4th quarter.
Just nine more games of this terror. Then we can look forward to the future. Hopefully a future that includes a top five draft pick.