THE Detroit Pistons have landed a nice victory in Toronto by beating the Raptors 99-95. Malik Beasley was clutch in the final quarter, scoring 7 of his 20 points to seal the game.
Detroit in collective mode
Despite an address far from being there at three points (8 out of 38), the Pistons were able to rely on a solid collective. Cade Cunningham signed a double-double with 15 points et 10 assistswhile Tobias Harris also made a double-double by adding 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Ivey et Jalen Duren also contributed with 14 and 12 points respectively. THE rookie Ron Hollanddespite being 0 of 6 from three points, contributed 10 points and 8 rebounds.
This second victory in two matches in the NBA Cup shows that the Pistons are taking this tournament seriously, after remaining silent last year.
The Raptors, the spiral continues
Nothing is going well for them Raptorswhich connect a sixth defeat in a row. Yet, Jakob Poeltl shone with 25 points et 19 reboundshis best performance of the season. RJ Barrett added 22 points, but the team still fished from long range (8 of 31).
Gradey Dickin difficulty, missed two crucial shots in the final seconds. One could have given Toronto the advantage, the other would have equalized.
The Raptors will challenge the Celtics Saturday in Boston on a back-to-back basis, while the Pistons travel to Washington on Sunday to try to continue their streak.
With this victory, Detroit shows that there is potential to be developed, while Toronto seems to be sinking a little deeper into crisis.
