Three quick observations from Sunday night’s 114-111 win over the Toronto Raptors…
SLAM DUNK – If you need a reminder how quickly things can change in the NBA. Consider the seven-day turnaround the Pistons just executed. One week after surrendering 59 points to Anthony Davis and losing their fifth straight game, the Pistons are suddenly on a four-game winning streak and their playoff hopes are revived. Their third quarter was as fine a 12-minute run as they’ve had since they outscored Portland 41-11 in a comeback November win, outscoring Toronto 37-20 to break open a 52-all halftime tie. They hit 14 of 18 shots and didn’t commit a turnover in the quarter. For the fourth straight game – the four since Tobias Harris moved into the starting lineup – all five starters scored in double figures. But the contributions of the bench – with the Pistons still shorthanded due to injuries to Stanley Johnson and Anthony Tolliver – were just as critical to the win. Justin Harper hit two early triples when Harris got into foul trouble and finished with nine points. Steve Blake was brilliant in an eight-minute stretch of the second half when he scored eight points and dished out four assists. Aron Baynes contributed nine points and Reggie Bullock eight. Andre Drummond recorded his 13th straight double-double, high for the NBA season, with 15 points and 18 rebounds in just 30 minutes. It was the 14th back-to-back set for the Pistons this season and only the second time they’d won both ends.
FREE THROW – With Kyle Lowry getting the night off for rest after scoring a career-high 43 points as Toronto beat Cleveland on Friday, the Raptors – heavily dependent on the scoring of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan – needed a second scorer to emerge. That was Terrence Ross, the guy then-Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo took in the 2012 draft with the No. 8 pick with the Pistons waiting behind them. The Raptors’ selection of Ross, a sophomore out of Washington, enabled the Pistons to grab the player they coveted, Andre Drummond. But Ross has developed into one of the league’s top sixth men and he’s had back-to-back big games at The Palace. He scored 18 points earlier this month, hitting 4 of 6 from the 3-point line, when Toronto pulled away in the fourth quarter to win by 14. And he finished with 27 on Sunday, including 16 in the first half when he drained 3 of 4 from the arc. DeRozan hit 6 of 7 shots in the first quarter, none of them at the rim and most of them well contested, but finished by making just 3 of his last 14 and finished with 20 points. One reason Toronto passed on Drummond is the fact it had spent the fifth pick in 2011 on Jonas Valanciunas, who was due to come to the NBA for the 2012-13 season. Valanciunas had developed into a solid center for the Raptors, though not the All-Star that Drummond has become. Valanciunas finished with 11 points and five rebounds Sunday.
3-POINTER – With the season nearly three-quarters over, it’s time to start scoreboard watching. The Pistons couldn’t have been particularly pleased to see Cleveland coach Ty Lue rest LeBron James for Sunday’s game at Washington with the Wizards on the Pistons’ heels in the standings, but then they got a similar break when Toronto rested Kyle Lowry coming off his career-high 43 points in Friday’s win over Cleveland. The Pistons are likely more focused on the teams ahead of them, at any rate, and that means Chicago and Charlotte most directly. Chicago has lost its last two games and sits at 30-28, but hopes to get Jimmy Butler – out since suffering a Feb. 5 knee injury – back fairly soon. Charlotte’s Sunday loss at Atlanta leaves the Hornets tied with Chicago at 30-28 and the Pistons, now at 31-29, are essentially tied with them for the last two playoff spots. If it comes down to tiebreakers, the Pistons are 2-1 against Chicago this season with one game remaining, April 2 at Chicago. They’re 0-1 against Charlotte with two games remaining, March 11 at Charlotte and March 25 at The Palace, the only visit by the Hornets this season. The Bulls, 19-11 at home and 11-17 on the road, have 13 of their final 24 games away from the United Center. Charlotte, 19-9 at home and 11-9 on the road, plays 13 of its final 24 at home. The Pistons are 18-11 at home, 13-18 on the road and play 12 of their final 22 at The Palace – but five of the next six on the road.
