3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 125-113 loss to Toronto Raptors

Taking a look at the three biggest takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 125-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

The Detroit Pistons struggled to find rhythm on both ends of the floor with Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson out. Luke Kennard remained in the starting lineup next to Tim Frazier in the backcourt, but was unable to find confidence in his shot.

While Andre Drummond and Marcus Morris led the Pistons starters in scoring, defensively the Pistons couldn’t keep up. Toronto pushed the pace in transition and scored 14 fast break points in the first quarter alone as Detroit’s transition defense allowed easy buckets that bolstered the Raptors’ 59.3 percent field goal percentage.

Derrick Rose was able to provide consistent offense in the first half operating out of the pick-and-roll, making six of eight shots from the field with 4 assists. His scoring, paired with Morris’ 14 first-half points kept the Pistons within six points by halftime, but the game was lost in the third quarter when Pascal Siakam scored 19 points in that quarter alone.

The Pistons were unable to overcome Siakam’s scoring barrage alongside the rest of the Raptors’ consistent contributors. Toronto consistently took advantage of mismatches on defense, leading to six of their players finishing the game with double-digits.

Defensively the Raptors were able to shut down Kennard and Bruce Brown, both of whom seemed off their game with only four points between the two of them as they went a combined one-for-nine from the field.

The final score would have been much worse if not for Langston Galloway and Svi Mykhailiuk, who both contributed 3 three-pointers each that came with the game out of reach.

With the Pistons now 2-3 on the season, let’s take a look at a few key takeaways from last night’s game.