The Detroit Pistons are facing off against the Toronto Raptors looking to bounce-back after losing by more than 40 points against the Bulls.
Tonight at 7:00pm ET the Detroit Pistons host their neighbors to the north from Toronto at Little Caesars Arena. Both teams are on two days of rest and coming off losses, although the nature of those losses is quite different.
The Pistons lost by more than 40 points to the Chicago Bulls in yet another miserable blowout in a Pistons season that has been pretty much full of miserable blowouts. Meanwhile the Raptors lost a close game against the Phoenix Suns.
Detroit Pistons vs. Toronto Raptors preview
- The Pistons won their only meeting of the season 127-120 in November at Scotiabank Arena
- The Pistons are 7-3 against Toronto since hiring Dwane Casey and have won four straight
- The Raptors struggled out of the gate this season but have really come on as of late, currently 20-18 after starting the season 9-13.
- The Raptor offense has the 10th best efficiency in the NBA by scoring 110.9 points per 100 possessions.
- Their defense is 19th in the league, allowing 109.7 points per 100 possessions.
- Those combine for the 13th best net rating at +1.2 points per 100 possessions.
- They play at the 26th fastest (or 5th slowest) pace in the league at 96.84 possessions per game.
- They are the 12th best rebounding team in the league, collecting 50.4% of misses.
Fred VanVleet leads the way for the Raptors and is making a late All-Star push for himself, averaging 22 points and 6.6 assists per game. He is an excellent shooter and defender, the exact kind of fighter that any team would love to have.
Pascal Siakam has a lot of bad PR between some attitude clashes with head-coach Nick Nurse and the fact that he’s disappointed after an initial breakout a couple of seasons ago, but he’s still an excellent player who does some of everything, even if he hasn’t turned out as good as many thought he would at some point.
OG Anunoby, who has perpetually been predicted as about to have a breakout season, is now having a breakout season. He’s on the verge of 20 points per game and is a terror on the defensive end.
The Detroit Pistons will have an awkward reunion with Rodney McGruder after he went to Denver in the now voided trade for Bol Bol, supposedly McGruder had even been practicing with them already. Hopefully he has retained his ability for speeches.
According to WynnBET, the Pistons are seven point underdogs at home with a +220 money line that makes for a pretty decent value bet considering how they’ve played against Toronto.