The Detroit Pistons three-game winning streak ended on the road in Toronto on Sunday afternoon
The Detroit Pistons’ lineup received a significant shakeup heading into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Toronto Raptors when both Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris were reintroduced as starters, but the Eastern Conference’s top squad was outworked for a 119-108 loss on the road despite a major scoring effort from Cade Cunningham.
Scoring 33 points on 12-for-24 shooting to go along with nine assists and three rebounds, Cunningham handled the brunt of Detroit’s scoring responsibility with twice as many shots as the next closest Piston (Tobias Harris, 12 attempts). Cunningham hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half as Detroit began the game in rhythm from the perimeter, but the All-Star’s shot faltered when the Pistons began to make their comeback during the fourth quarter.
Cunningham dueled back and forth with Brandon Ingram all game, and the Raptors All-Star showed laser-like focus to go with his laser-like shot in what was a 34-point effort from BI. With four triples to his credit, Ingram connected on a slew of pivotal shots to keep the Raptors in the lead during the fourth quarter, including a dagger three-pointer with less than a minute remaining to dispel any thought of a Pistons comeback.
Apart from that All-Star showdown, the Pistons were outworked on the glass in a fashion that stood as peculiar compared to the tenants of Detroit Basketball. From a rebounding perspective, the Raptors grabbed nine more boards in the contest, and Toronto was wildly successful in converting offensive rebounds into second-chance points. In particular, Jakob Poeltl finished the game with 21 points and 18 rebounds, and the Toronto big man served as a major facilitator for those extra possessions.
“He was big for us,” Ingram said of Poeltl after the game. “He definitely met the physicality today. I’m definitely glad to have him back.”
For the Pistons, Jalen Duren did his best to battle in the paint without his bruising wingman, Isaiah Stewart, in the lineup, and JD put forth another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in Detroit’s 11-point loss. Tobias Harris also broke the 20-point threshold with nine buckets and a trio of three-pointers for 21 total points, but the 15-year vet drew the unfortunate responsibility of guarding Ingram on the other end, a task which proved to be futile since Thompson marked R.J. Barrett.
As for Thompson, the dynamic third-year defensive ace looks to need a little more time before settling back into the lineup. Thompson was erratic with the ball at times, finishing with just four points, three assists and one rebound, but the two-way swingman will sort out his rhythm as he reacclimates to his standard dose of playing time.
“It’s hard, and then being on a minutes restriction and all that stuff is kind of hard trying to figure out how to get his rhythm and what part of and where he can attack– all those things," Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. "Getting back to playing with the group, but again, I thought his effort was great. His ability to defend obviously was there, to be disruptive was there, but he’s just working his way back and he’ll be fine.”
With today’s loss in the books, the Pistons fall to 48-19 on the year as they split their season series against Toronto as well. Detroit’s next contest will be a 7 pm tip-off on the road against the Washington Wizards.
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