The Detroit Pistons have now lost three of their last four games after losing 112-99 tonight to the Toronto Raptors.
Tonight’s match up against the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors proved to be too tall of a task for the Detroit Pistons. The lack of fluidity on offense throughout the game saw Detroit face their inevitable demise.
Shooting just 6 for 35 from three-point range (17 percent) and only scoring 15 points in the third quarter goes beyond the label of unacceptable. It’s flat out embarrassing. The Pistons gave up 133 points against the Wizards in their previous game, so an emphasis on the defensive end was expected in tonight’s outing.
The Raptors scored 70 points in the first half.
Admittedly Detroit’s efforts did tighten up in the second half, holding Pascal Siakam to just 1 for 7 shooting in the third quarter, and holding Toronto to a field goal percentage of just 29 percent through the final two quarters.
But it wasn’t enough. Whether it was Luke Kennard‘s hesitation to shoot the ball, or Tony Snell struggling to knock down shots, or the complete disregard for any sensible passes, tonight’s loss was inarguably the most self-inflicted loss of the season for Detroit.
The Pistons committed 15 turnovers tonight which is more or less on par with their season average. An uncomfortable amount of them came from ill-advised full court passes attempting to catch the Raptors sleeping in transition – but shockingly, they almost never did.
Something undoubtedly has to change with this team moving forward.