-What a difference a few days off to rest and practice makes. A sharper, hungrier, more prepared Toronto Raptors squad finished the first "half" of their lock-out shortened season with a win, 103 to 93 over a tired Detroit Pistons club. The Pistons were coming off an implosion the night before against Cleveland, and looked more keen to head to the All-Star break than fight this one out to the finish.
-Evidence of fatigue from Detroit? (Or lack of caring, depending on your vantage point.) The Pistons just didn't have the lift in their shots, hitting only 42 per cent from the field, and only two of 12 long-range bombs. Also, they were out-worked on the boards, 47 to 37 by the Dinos.
-However let's give the Raps some credit here too. This was a complete team effort with six players scoring in double figures, and DeMar DeRozan continued his recent offensive production, posting a team-high 23. Jose Calderon was only one of four from the field, but his 15 assists set the table for the Dinos all night and the Pistons had no answer. In fact Rodney Stuckey had zero impact thanks to a nice zero points, zero rebounds and one assist line on the night.
-But the game-ball in this one goes to Aaron Gray. We've already seen Gray be extremely effective in limited minutes of late, but tonight he was dominant, posting a 12 and 12 dub-dub in just under 30 minutes of action. Fans even chanted MVP at one point when he was shooting free throws. I mean, can a win get any better?
-Well...maybe if there's pizza involved.
-Yep, you knew it was another lottery bound season for the Dinos as fans chanted "pizza, pizza, pizza" as time ran down and the Raps approached 100 points. The team hit the mark, got their tenth win on the season, and now are off on the All-Star break for nearly a week. All in all, a pretty satisfying night.
-Wait. Unless you're a fan of Anthony Davis in a Raptors' uniform next season...