DETROIT — The Toronto Raptors latest loss snatched from the jaws of victory went like this:
Scottie Barnes drives into traffic, misses the lay-up. The Detroit Pistons are at the other end of the floor in a flash and get a lay-up in transition from Ausar Thompson, playing for the first time this season after being out since last March with blood clots. It was a nice moment, but not if you’re a Raptors fan.
After an RJ Barrett three — a rare one given the Raptors were 10-of-35 for the night — Davion Mitchell drove into the teeth of the defence and missed, leading to another fastbreak lay-up by the Pistons.
Then there was a missed Barrett three (he was 1-of-6 on the night) that should have been another Pistons fastbreak score, but this time Thompson missed the lay-up. But then Barrett missed a lay-up at the other end and this time the Pistons went the length of the floor in a heartbeat and Isaiah Stewart finished the play with an uncontested dunk in transition. The Pistons were running it down the Raptors throats all night, finishing with a 17-6 edge in fast break points, so it was all part of a theme.
Barnes seemed to rescue the Raptors as he drove into the paint and scored to tie the game with 22.9 seconds left, but that just set up one more indignity: Pistons guard Jaden Ivey getting a switch from Mitchell to Ochai Agbaji and then patiently waiting for the clock to wind down before driving right and hitting a leaner as the horn sounded.
There wasn’t a big crowd at Little Caesars Arena, but they went crazy and Ivey, who finished with 25 points and eight assists and was a menace all night, was mobbed by his teammates.
The Raptors could only look on and think, “Not again.” The 102-100 win was the Pistons’ fourth straight over Toronto. The Raptors’ road record fell to an NBA-worst 0-10 — they are the only team in the league without a road win – and 4-13 overall as they head to New Orleans and then Miami on their current four-game trip.
The Pistons, playing without injured point do-it-all guard Cade Cunningham, improved to 8-11. Detroit didn’t win its 11th game until Feb. 27th last season.
The Raptors are in very familiar territory. There have been four buzzer-beating game-winners so far this season and the Raptors have been on the wrong end of two of them in the space of 10 days, dating back to Jayson Tatum’s deep three last week in Boston.
Toronto can now count 10 games that have been decided by six points — two possessions — or less already this season. The Raptors record in tight ones is 2-8 after Monday night’s muddle in Detroit.
The Raptors were up by eight points to start the fourth which was saying something given they essentially gave away the first eight minutes of the game as they fell behind by 15 points by allowing – among other unpardonable sins – Pistons’ sharpshooter Malik Beasley to shake loose for six good looks from three, the first three that he knocked down, virtually uncontested.
Even coming in on the second night of a back-to-back against a rested Pistons team, Toronto’s opening six or seven minutes were inexcusably bad.
To their credit, the Raptors clawed back and put themselves in a good position to win only to stumble when it mattered most.
“We missed some easy ones and they were getting out in transition, getting dunks, lay-ups, a lot of free throws that kept them in the game,” said Barnes, who led all scorers with 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds — both season highs — but shot just 3-of-7 in the fourth quarter where the Raptors shot 6-of-24 as a team. “They weren’t really scoring, they were getting a lot of free throws, so we got to do a better job not fouling.
“(But) we had great looks. We had point-blank lay-ups, I missed one. We just have to finish the game. We were up eight going into the fourth and our mindset was to win the quarter, win the game and finish it out. We just have to do a better job finishing the game. It’s happened to us a couple of times this year, we just have to continue to work on it.”
They’ve had their share of practice. Largely because they have so consistently started games slow that they’ve had plenty of opportunities to mount stirring comebacks that inevitably fall just a little short.
Presumably, one day, the Raptors will come out on the other side of all this. That’s the plan, anyway.
“You need to be in these situations to learn what it takes to win,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “To learn how to calm yourself down, how to execute, how to pay attention to details on both ends of the floor. But there’s also a mental component. You need to want to be in those situations, to embrace the moment, to embrace competing, embrace when the game is on the line and to learn what it takes to win in those situations.”
The Raptors clearly, are still learning.
It’s failing at the details in the key moments that explains how a team loses games even when so many of the metrics point in their favour. The Raptors had 23 offensive rebounds to six by Detroit and had 104 shots overall to 76 by the Pistons. Toronto made just eight turnovers to 14 by the Pistons. However, Detroit was just a little more efficient (44.7 per cent from the field and 12-of-37 from deep while the Raptors shot 39.4 per cent and made just 10 threes) and the Raptors — as has been a season-long trend — fouled way too much. They put Detroit on the line 31 times while Toronto took just 10 free throws.
“Today we had like, 30 more shots than them and still lost,” said Barrett, who had 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting. “We got to make some shots, I got to make some shots. That’s the good thing about it being so early in the season and us being young, we have time to learn from these mistakes.”
Some lessons to take away?
“On the road just being smarter situationally,” said Barrett. “I had a great corner three, but on the next one, I had some more time and could have got a better shot where we’re not giving up a wide-open lay-up on the other side. We’re not getting wide-open lay-ups at the end of the game, stuff like that.
“And also starting the game off better. If we start the game off better, maybe if we go on that run it’s a 15–20-point lead (to start the fourth quarter) instead of seven or eight.”
The Raptors did go on a run, and once again it was the bench that sparked it. Contributions from veteran Chris Boucher and rookies Jamison Battle and Jamal Shead helped the Raptors finish the third quarter on a 13-5 run, with Shead hitting two threes and Battle one as Toronto led 80-72 to start the fourth.
But they couldn’t close. It’s been the story of their season, but to hear them tell it, it’s not a sad story. Not yet.
“We’re right where we need to be,” said Rajakovic. “We’re right there learning how to win these games.”
We’ll see. In theory, experience is the best teacher, and the Raptors are gaining plenty.
