DETROIT — It wasn’t supposed to work this way. After a tough schedule to start the season the idea was the Toronto Raptors would be able to make some hay as they played four games against teams that weren’t in the playoffs last year and aren’t anyone’s pick to be in them this year either.
Instead, the Raptors rolled into Detroit having lost two straight, three out of four and four of their past six. And sure the Pistons are young and struggling and likely learning how to pronounce ‘Wembanyama,’ but they’re Dwane Casey’s Pistons.
The former Raptors head coach has had his old club’s number, winning six straight over Toronto before Monday and nine of 12 since Casey started with the Pistons after he was fired and replaced by Nick Nurse in the summer of 2018.
Oh, and the Raptors are in a knockout battle with the injury bug, with Pascal Siakam (groin) and Precious Achiuwa (ankle) out long-term; Fred VanVleet back in Toronto recovering from some version of the flu and Gary Trent Jr. out with a sore hip. That’s an all-star, an all-NBA player, a starter, and a key reserve not available.
So much for all the brain power wasted on trying to identify an ideal rotation, Monday the Raptors were just hoping to have one.
But in a league that proves over and over again that the key to carving out a career for anyone other than the lucky few chosen in the draft lottery — who get chance after chance — Toronto was able to carve out a much-need 115-111 win thanks to some essential performances by players who were given chances by circumstance and made the most of it.
Dalano Banton? Come on down. The kid from Rexdale scored a career-high 27 points and calmly iced the back-and-forth battle at the free-throw line while adding five rebounds and four assists as Toronto improved to 8-7 and avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
“He obviously scored it really well,” said Nurse. “He is kind of naturally a point guard but when we have other lineups in there, we like having him off the ball so he’s not under so much duress to make plays all the time. I think sprinkling him on and off the ball helps him set some people up.
“And obviously he’s shooting the ball really well this year, when he’s catching and faced up, you’re expecting him to make them now which is a huge step forward for him.”
Banton scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and expertly ran the Raptors from the point while holding off a Pistons club that had cut an 11-point fourth-quarter lead to two with 2:44 to play as Pistons’ rookie Jaden Ivey pounded the Raptors’ paint and either scored or kicked the ball out to open three-point shooters.
Luckily the Pistons were 8-of-27 on the night, masking the fact the Raptors were 10-of-31 themselves, though Banton was 3-of-7, setting career highs in makes and attempts. Ivey led Detroit with 21 points and eight assists, 13 and four of those coming down the stretch.
The Raptors got 19 points and seven rebounds from O.G. Anunoby who made a pair of key blocks in the fourth quarter to help keep the Pistons at bay. Toronto shot 48.5 per cent from the floor and gained the win thanks in large part to a 21-17 edge in turnovers
With his options limited, Nurse started Banton, Otto Porter Jr. and Thad Young alongside regular starters Scottie Barnes and Anunoby, a lineup that has never played meaningful minutes together, if any. It was that way all night, as little-used pieces like Juancho Hernangomez, Banton and Malachi Flynn got big run, with the likes of two-way call-up Jeff Dowtin Jr. getting his first non-garbage time minutes.
The early returns were positive. Barnes, who has been in a shooting slump lately, came out with some pop, converting a dunk on his first touch off a nice feed from Anunoby and then outracing the Pistons on a one-man fastbreak off a rebound for another quick hoop. Later in the first half he muscled his way into the paint and finished with a soft jump hook that has been rolling out more than in recently.
Unfortunately those were most of his best moments. The second-year slump extended to seven games as he finished with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting with five rebounds, four assists and three turnovers. It would help with the Raptors short bodies to have Barnes step up, but for now, no one is worried, even if he hasn’t shot better than 50 per cent from the field in seven straight games and has yet to have a 20-point night this year.
“I think it’s just a bad segment that’s he in,” said Chris Boucher, who provided 20 points off the bench. “I had that before, so I know how he feels. I don’t think his energy is down or anything. I think that people are going to focus so much on what he’s doing with Pascal out. But he’s going to get out of it. He wasn’t the rookie of the year for no reason. He’s going to get to a level and understand what he needs to do.”
Banton made the most of his second career start — his first was when the Raptors had eight players available on Boxing Day in Cleveland last year — as he sparked Toronto with nine quick points including a high-speed sprint past the entire Pistons team to turn a defensive rebound into a fastbreak lay-up. The result was a 27-23 first-quarter lead, something that has been elusive when the Raptors regular starters have been available given Toronto’s minus-6.1 net rating in the first 12 minutes of games this season is 22nd in the NBA. It was the Raptors’ first time leading after 12 minutes in six games, and a testament to Banton’s continued growth since making the team as a second-round pick last season.
“Just going through the summer going through the reps I had, and you know, live games playing for Team Canada and summer league and stuff like that. Just going through the training with the Raptors development team and just trusting in the process and the tweaks and things they want to make to my shot,” said Banton. “Like just trying to get it off faster game-like shots and stuff like that, but it’s definitely a lot of reps, you know, putting in a lot of reps and master your craft, doing what you can on your own time working to try to produce in the games.”
The lineups got even more jumbled in the second quarter. Hernangomez played 12 straight minutes, Dowtin Jr. had an eight-minute run and Khem Birch, back after missing the previous six games with soreness in his knee, played four minutes.
But the Raptors kept their defensive intensity high and were able to force Detroit into what ended up being 13 first-half turnovers that translated into 12 second-half points. Toronto finished the half with a bang too, as Anunoby tried to make Pistons centre Marvin Bagley retire as the Raptors forward ran across the lane and slammed the ball home, with Bagley the victim. Banton followed up with his second three of the half and Toronto took a 58-51 lead into the third quarter.
The dunk seemed to spark Anunoby who started the game 1-of-7 but kept attacking the paint and was rewarded in the third quarter. He finished a post-move with a dunk and knocked down his first three from the corner on a great pass through traffic by Hernangomez. It was not the only nice play of the period by the Spanish international star who was appearing in just his eighth game of the season and surpassed his season average of 10 minutes a game in the second quarter alone.
When Porter Jr. couldn’t return after half due to a sore left foot, Hernangomez started and did very well. He hit a quick three and scored off a sharp cut and nice pass from Young before his own dish to Anunoby.
It was that kind of night. The Raptors needed help from anywhere they could get it, and for the most part, they got it. A triple by Flynn late in the third pushed the Raptors’ lead to 14 before Toronto took a 88-77 edge into the fourth quarter.
It turned out to be just enough as the shorthanded Raptors got the win. They will get a couple of days to add some healthy bodies before they face Miami on Wednesday.
