Richard Hamiton, star of the show as the Pistons thump the Raptors 115-93
Last time, the Toronto Raptors were pitched against the Detroit Pistons this season, the Raptors pulled off one of the greatest rear-guard actions in the history of their franchise as they came back from a 25-point deficit to topple
the Pistons in a fourth quarter romp.
The Detroit Pistons weren't going to let a big lead slip away this time, as they avenged their heart-breaking loss in style, thundering to a blow-out 115-93 victory over the injury-plagued Raptors.
A night after bring cast out from the line-up, Richard Hamilton came back with a bang as he scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Pistons from the front. He wasn’t the only one who notched up season highs on the night though.
Tracy McGrady returned to haunt his ex-franchise as he posted 17 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey had 21 while Charlie Villanueva once again let it rip with 18 points.
In a high scoring extravaganza both teams shot well above 50 percent and virtually had nothing to separate them on the night, except turnovers. The butter-fingered Raptors accounted for a whooping 23 turnover for the match. James
Calderon, the ace Toronto guard was the culprit on 8 of these occasions.
And the Pistons made them pay for it. Detroit had 27 more shots at goal and scored 41 points off of Toronto's miscues, which ultimately proved to be Toronto’s undoing.
Toronto had the initial honours in the game as they led the Pistons for most of the first quarter. Their dominance was short lived though as Detroit sprinted to 7-2 run late in the period to take a 24-23 lead. There was no turning
back for them after that.
The second quarter proved to be the game-changer as the Pistons hit the court running and tore apart the defences of the home team. The red hot Pistons offense spearheaded by Hamilton and McGrady nailed in 15 field goals on a 65
percent shooting in the second quarter and capped it with a 14-4 run as the teams headed to the locker room at a 62-44 advantage.
The third quarter had been a nemesis for the Pistons more often than not all season. On the night though, the men from Detroit stuck to their task and managed to keep the resurgent Toronto offense under check. The third frame was
all even at 24 points as the Pistons maintained their half time advantage.
Toronto reeled off a 6 point unanswered spurt to start the fourth quarter to pull within 16, but the Pistons responded ferociously with a 24-6 onslaught to finally put the game beyond the Raptors.
With 4:03 left on the clock and the match already decided, the Raptors played for pride as they slashed a 32 point deficit with a 13-3 run, to finish at 93-115.
Leandro Barbosa was impressive for the Raptors as he came off the bench to fetch a team-high 21 points. Linaz Kleiza had 19 points on a 7 of 11 shooting while DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis netted 10 apiece. The biggest disappointment
of the night for the Raptors though was Andrea Bargnani as he shot just 6 for 17 from the floor to finish with 16 points and also had 3 turnovers. To add to his woes, Bargnani strained his left calf in the third quarter. He however braved onto the court to
finish the game.
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