Quick Reaction: Raptors 119, Pistons 108

The Poeltl we’ve waited for was finally back. He had four offensive boards in the first half and kept giving the Raps second-chance opportunities. He stepped up big time in the third quarter. He was the best offensive player on the floor before forcing a Detroit timeout.

He had the headband to match his Slam cover partner. Barnes had five points in the first half, but did just about everything else. He had two potential assists – one that put Shead on the free throw line and Cade on the latter’s shoulders. Another one to put Mamu at the line. When Shead missed a corner 3, Poeltl grabbed an offensive board. Shead was in the exact same spot, but Barnes drove and dumped it off to Poeltl for the two. Great decision-making. He had a nice hockey assist in the fourth that resulted in a BI 3. He scored whenever he was needed. He hunted Robinson down low, drove and drew a foul from Duren. Detroit can feast on missed buckets and Scottie’s tap-in kept the game close (one of his two offensive boards in the first half). He made an and-one, a nice post-move, a turn-aroudn jumper in the post and grabbed his own miss and scored. Two blocks reminiscent of the other day: one on Sasser and another block from behind on Holland II.

Piss-poor shooting night from the starting guard. Credit to him for hitting a 3 early in the first quarter to kill Detroit’s momentum. Orchestrated some good ball movement in the second quarter and had a transition assist to Poeltl that made the Raps look like the Pistons.

Set the tone with 13 first quarter points from the nail, from downtown, a mid-range jumper and another one off Mamu’s steal. He had a silky smooth jumper over Duncan Robinson in the second quarter. He hit a big 3 at the end of the third quarter and nailed shots when it most mattered. Hit a big 3 off Scottie’s drive and a pass from IQ. Then continued to kill the Pistons’ hope hitting a middy, and-one, and more 3s.

Captain Canada Clutch. He made the team’s first two buckets. Had a great duck-in and was rewarded by a pass from Scottie. He hit a big 3 in the fourth quarter to give the Raps an eight-point lead and a big bucket inside. Gave the LFG stare to the same section courtside after he knocked down the corner 3 in the previous game. My only beef is he had a few unnecessary turnovers, but made up for it with a nice bucket off the glass and big defensive play on Tobias Harris, harassing him on the wing and forcing a miss with the Raps up six.

He stretched the floor. He hit a big 3 in the first quarter and ran back on defence and got a steal. He got to the free throw line and had two nice buckets at the rim, though he shouldn’t have missed that wide open lay-up in transition.

Despite the stats, he did a great job attacking the paint, creating for others. He created BI’s 3 and got the hockey assist on Ja’Kobe’s 3. Nice job hunting Duncan Robinson and driving past him to put the Raps up 12. B+ for that huge block on Holland II to stop a fast break.

He was quickly subbed out after not shooting and costing his team a shot clock violation and then fouling Cade. Darko put him in the the Raps up eight. He hit a open 3 to put the raps up 13 in the third.

Limited minutes but had a great put-back.

Valued possessions and took timeouts at the right time. The game had a playoff vibe to it. Pistons were 13-3 in fast break points in the first half, but clearly switched up the strategy as the Raps were 7-4 in the second half.