Game 59: Detroit Pistons 94 - Toronto Raptors 123

[DanH]

Expected starters:

Pistons:
Ish Smith
Reggie Bullock
Stanley Johnson
Blake Griffin
Andre Drummond

Raptors:
Kyle Lowry
DeMar DeRozan
OG Anunoby
Serge Ibaka
Jonas Valanciunas

Toronto is 4th in ORTG and 4th in DRTG.

Detroit is 20th in ORTG and 11th in DRTG (15th and 10th since the Blake trade).

The Raptors won the one previous contest against the Pistons in a close 96-91 affair. CJ Miles led the team with 21 points.

[Puffer]

Big shoes to fill Dan, but we are all expecting you to generate another run for the team. I see a lot of confidence in the crowd.

[rocwell]

[Zainab]

Meet Ron Turenne, the man who has been capturing iconic @AirCanadaCentre concert moments and your favourite @Raptors photos since Day 1.

Full @Sportsnet feature: https://t.co/S6WHKML5r8 #RTZ #NorthOverEverything #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/UO2ETTEZPO

— Donnovan Bennett (@donnovanbennett) February 24, 2018

[G__Deane]

Hoping for a big game where we bury the Pistons early and often

[G__Deane]

Timberwolves' Jimmy Butler has meniscal injury to right knee

[rocwell]

Mood:

Wait for it ��(via @SacramentoKings) pic.twitter.com/a7XN50y88c

— ESPN (@espn) February 25, 2018

[Puffer]

I'm glad for the days off between games if Ibaka turns in a good performance, but it is a little hard to take the long stretches of no basketball. It is particularly hard if, when they finally play, Ibaka, Powell, OG and Lowry are not outstanding. I want to see outstanding tomorrow night. Otherwise the Raptors head office is going to get a strongly worded message of condemnation expressing my dissatisfaction. I might start an online petition calling for better play. Maybe an online survey asking fans which they prefer, good play or poor play. It's not like we, as fans, are powerless. The internet has now given us the power to whine and chew and moan in public. I'm going to start using that power if the Detroit game is a disappointment.

[Demographic Shift]

The Pistons are limping into town on the heels of a beatdown from the Charlotte Hornets....which was preceded by a semi-beatdown from the Chowderheads.... They are in 9th place looking up. It ain't pretty right now.

Odds are good the Pistions are going to come out with the best they got.....because if they don't.... just play Taps for them.

Raps are coming off a loss at home to the Bucks after the long 9 day ASG break... they played OK but not like the team that has run teams off the court. Dwane Casey got two full days of practice time after Fridays loss. Expect the Raps to come out with intensity and purpose.

So the first half.. especially the first Q should be worth tuning in for. A desperate team with its season starting to slide away against a team that is looking to get back on the rails after two days of hard practice to make amends for last Friday.

Detroit is on second night of the B2B.
Its on the road.
They have next to no 3 point shooting.
Just too much to overcome.
Raps W.

[DanH]

Game day! That felt like a long weekend... Need a bounce back performance here, run these guys out the gym.

[KeonClark]

Game day! That felt like a long weekend... Need a bounce back performance here, run these guys out the gym.

I missed the bucks games so I'm a little raptors starved to say the least

[The Great One]

It’s Monday morning and @raptors are having a great season. Don’t sleep on my brothers D and K... 1st in the east as a right now. As a player is always great when you wake up on a Monday 1st

— Greivis Vasquez (@greivisvasquez) February 26, 2018

[rocwell]

It’s Monday morning and @raptors are having a great season. Don’t sleep on my brothers D and K... 1st in the east as a right now. As a player is always great when you wake up on a Monday 1st

— Greivis Vasquez (@greivisvasquez) February 26, 2018

Big Balls Vasquez

[planetmars]

I feel like the Pistons got worse with the Griffin trade. And they've been struggling lately too. B2B for them on top of that. Can't have a let down game. Celtics are currently only .5 games back now, and are playing Memphis tonight.

[S.R.]

The Pistons are limping into town on the heels of a beatdown from the Charlotte Hornets....which was preceded by a semi-beatdown from the Chowderheads.... They are in 9th place looking up. It ain't pretty right now.

Odds are good the Pistions are going to come out with the best they got.....because if they don't.... just play Taps for them.

Raps are coming off a loss at home to the Bucks after the long 9 day ASG break... they played OK but not like the team that has run teams off the court. Dwane Casey got two full days of practice time after Fridays loss. Expect the Raps to come out with intensity and purpose.

So the first half.. especially the first Q should be worth tuning in for. A desperate team with its season starting to slide away against a team that is looking to get back on the rails after two days of hard practice to make amends for last Friday.

Detroit is on second night of the B2B.
Its on the road.
They have next to no 3 point shooting.
Just too much to overcome.
Raps W.

Reaction #1: Hot damn, look at Drummond's handles!
Reaction #2: Drummond's dancing, chest bumping, laughing, the bench is up and laughing and high 5'ing - and the Pistons are LOSING BY OVER 20 POINTS. So much for a 9th seed team focused on catching the last playoff spot - not even just that it's the 10th seed delivering the beat down. A guy like Kobe on that team would have been yelling at those guys to sit the $#$% down. You don't dance around celebrating a 20 point loss like you ain't got a care in the world. I was hoping for more from the Pistons, I really don't think they have "it" though.