Toronto Raptors’ engine falters in the fourth as the Pistons hand them their 5th straight loss

The Raptors overcame a flat start only to drop the ball by failing to execute late in the fourth.

Coach Darko Rajakovic and his Toronto Raptors couldn’t pull off an upset against the Detroit Pistons, as they saw their engine stall in the fourth, allowing the hosts to escape with a 123-114 win.

The Toronto Raptors dropped by Motown, feeling high from their moral victory win against the Cleveland Cavaliers the other night. While the Raptors played their season-high 2nd consecutive competitive game, the starting unit “no-showed” to start the game, allowing the Pistons to get into their rhythm. The Raptors’ bench got them back into the game, and the starters’ carburetors warmed up just in time to keep this game competitive until the check engine light came on in the fourth, and the engine seized up down the stretch.

Immanuel Quickley led the Raptors in scoring with 25 points but was ineffective running the team as a point guard for the most part. Scottie Barnes chipped in 16 points and 12 boards. The Pistons, Quickley and Scottie, shut down Barnes in the fourth, who only had 1 point since the game was tied at 109 with five minutes remaining. RJ Barrett had a horrible game, with his 10 points not enough to negate his 4-for-16 shooting, including 0-for-8 from behind the arc and 2-for-6 freebies. To top it off, he also committed five turnovers.

The Raptors’ bench was the lone bright spot as if operating with a newly changed engine oil. Chris Boucher’s hot streak continues with 14 points, including 4-for-5 from the perimeter. Bruce Brown probably had his best game as a Raptor with his 14 points and five boards. Finally, the Raptors are starting to rev up his trade value. Jamal Shead had another solid outing, with a team-high +17 on the box plus/minus, contributing 10 points and five dimes. Let’s also not forget Kelly Olynyk’s fight for two offensive rebounds, which rarely happens.

Cade Cunningham put up a masterclass with his 22 points, 17 dimes, and 10 boards — narrowly missing a quadruple-double as he committed eight turnovers. Tim Hardaway Jr. exploited the Swiss cheese defence put up by the Raptors’ backcourt, leading all scorers with 27 points, including going for 7-for-8 from deep. Malik Beasley joined in on the fun, taking advantage of the Raptors’ efence, scoring 18 points and going 4-for-5 from the perimeter.

Overall, this new iteration of Detroit Pistons under JB Bickerstaff is just a few notches better than coach Rajakovic’s version of the Toronto Raptors. The Pistons are much further ahead with their team-building and identity under the tutelage of JB Bickerstaff, who’s done a successful job laying out the foundations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons are 9-2 in their last 11 games. The Raptors don’t even have nine wins this season, and if we go back to last season, it will take 44 games to get their last nine wins.

Bickerstaff’s Pistons came into the game prepared, targeting the Raptors’ point-of-attack defense, and overall defensive philosophy on how to defend the perimeter, leading to a whopping 19-for-33 shooting from the perimeter, with eight of the nine players who attempted a three-pointer shooting better than their season average tonight.

The Pistons also had a solid defensive game plan, limiting Barnes for most of the game. They showed bodies whenever Barnes got close to the basket, and they made him feel his defender for the most part. The same can be said for Immanuel Quickley, who probably only had five good looks, and the majority of his 20 attempts were either tough shots or well-defended.

Even then, the Raptors had a chance to steal the game in the fourth. The Raptors tied the game at 109 via Quickley’s middy, but the combination of half-serious defense and an offense with what looked like a blown head gasket won’t win many games, even pre-Dwane Casey’s Pistons.

And no, the Raptors weren’t tanking this game. If the game continued the same way it started, that’s probably a legitimate claim. However, you can’t say “tanking” if Jamal Shead is the only young player to play off the bench (Ja’Kobe Walter’s four-minute cardio doesn’t count), and he even only played 17 minutes, despite showing a much more efficient two-way game than the Raptors’ starting point guard. Also, the Raptors’ other young players are closer to New Brunswick geographically than Detroit is to Toronto.

On to the next L, I guess?