Pistons Hand Raptors Painful Buzzer-Beater Loss

The Raptors remain winless on the road after dropping a heartbreaker on the road in Detroit, but might have picked up a critical Tankathon “loss.”

The Toronto Raptors suffer a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to the Detroit Pistons despite a stellar performance by Scottie Barnes. Barnes had his season-high 31 points and was in take-over mode a few times in this game, helping the Raptors recover from a 15-point lead to taking an eight-point lead heading into the final period. However, the Pistons managed to make it a tightly contested game down the stretch, and it was Jaden Ivey who sealed the victory for the Pistons with a clutch floater as the time expired, resulting in a 100-102 loss for the visiting Raptors.

Scottie Barnes’ best game of the season wasn’t enough for the Raptors, leading all scorers with his season-high 31 points, 14 boards, and seven dimes. Barnes’ three trifectas were also a season-high for him. RJ Barrett had a rough shooting night, missing several layups throughout the game and finishing with 17 points on 19 attempts.

Jaden Ivey led the Pistons with his 25 points and eight dimes, but more importantly, he hit the game-winner over Ochai Agbaji at the buzzer. Jalen Duren had a strong start but managed to wind up with 13 points, 12 boards, and four blocks. Malik Beasley had another hot-and-cold streak on the same game, catching fire early with three straight trifectas and following it up with a frigid eleven straight bricks from the perimeter.

The Pistons survived without having their best player, Cade Cunningham, who missed the game after taking a nasty fall the other game. The Raptors were also missing Gradey Dick, who was ruled out due to a calf strain. The Raptors won the possession battle (+28 more shots) but sent the Pistons to the line 31 times. The bench mob also poured in 40 points, including this beauty:

However, the Raptors’ poor transition defense (17-6, Pistons) and sloppy shooting in the fourth (6-24 FG) cost them the game. After the game, coach Darko Rajakovic said, “Our missed opportunities — layups or threes — that led to their transition, and the other team scored 17 points in transition, and that’s a lot.”

Detroit’s hot start, coupled with Toronto’s poor defense and offensive execution, got coach Darko Rajakovic to call a couple of timeouts to start the game — first when the Raptors went down 4-14 less than four minutes into the game and next, with Beasley netting his third trifecta to put the Pistons up, 21-7 midway through the first period. The bench provided the energy, going on an 11-3 run to prevent the Pistons from blowing this game up, closing the first quarter with a 22-29 deficit.

Scottie Barnes and the Raptors got their act together in the second frame. Barnes imposed his will en route to 17 points in the second quarter, hitting three trifectas in the process to help the Raptors tie the game at 48 at the half. In the third period, the Raptors’ bench mob did their damage with 17 points between Jamal Shead, Jamieson Battle, and Chris Boucher, and the Raptors found themselves with an 80-74 lead entering the final frame.

It got sloppy for both teams in the fourth period with turnovers, blown layups, and missed freebies, but the Pistons’ hustle got them within one, with the Raptors leading 86-85 almost mid-way through the game. Barnes hit the bench for what appeared to be a breather, but it looked like he was limping on his way to the bench.

Things escalated between Jakob Poeltl and Isaiah Stewart, with both players getting called for a double personal foul. Chris Boucher and Ron Holland II got tangled while lining up for the jump ball and got T’d up. Poeltl pulled an OG rebounding trick commonly found at LA Fitness ball runs to win the jump ball and bait Stewart to get whistled for a foul, which triggered Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff, costing him a tech.

Barnes returned and went into take-over mode, getting to the basket and probing for a kick-out to Barrett for a trifecta to give the Raptors a 98-96 lead with less than two minutes to go. The Raptors had a chance to extend the lead. Nevertheless, coach Rajakovic went to his closer Davion Mitchell to ISO. Not only did he brick the layup, but the Raptors’ poor transition defense allowed Ivey to get a layup to tie the game at 98.

Barnes and Barrett couldn’t put the ball into the basket, and Ausar Thompson failed to take advantage of the Raptors’ poor transition defense and blew a layup. However, Barret also blew his layup on the other end, and the Pistons got right back and found Stewart for a dunk to give the Pistons a two-point lead with 39 seconds to go. Scottie Barnes powered his way to the basket to tie the game with 22 seconds left, and the Pistons called for time. Coach Rajakovic subbed in Agbaji for more defense. Coach Bickerstaff called for an Ivey ISO, with the Raptors allowing Agbaji to switch to Ivey on a light screen action easily. Ivey ran up the clock, went up for a tough floater against Agbaji, and Ivey called “game.” Big win for “ethical tanking.”