Even a huge Scottie Barnes performance isn’t enough.
Oh the heartbreak.
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The Toronto Raptors once again held a late lead in a game, but fell agonizingly short of a victory, remaining winless on the road thanks to a Jaden Ivey buzzer-beater.
The Detroit Pistons guard, elevated to the starring role with Cade Cunningham out injured, held the ball for the final possession, until breaking free of Ochai Agbaji to score and give the Detroit Pistons a 102-00 win.
Ivey scored eight of his 25 points in the fourth, negating 31 points from Scottie Barnes, his most in a game since last Jan. 18. Barnes added 14 rebounds and seven assists. Toronto shot only 39.4% from the field.
While Detroit has been off since Saturday. The Pistons won at Toronto on Nov. 15 and a franchise that leads the NBA in losses since 2019-20 (a whopping 42 more than second-place Washington) is off to a much more palatable 8-11 start. Meanwhile, Toronto is now 4-14, including 0-10 on the road, tying the franchise futility record to start the season. The 1997-98 Raptors also began 0-10 away from SkyDome and Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Raptors got off to a poor start, falling behind 14-4, forcing head coach Darko Rajakovic to call an early timeout. It didn’t really work, thanks to sizzling Detroit shooting. The Pistons knocked down four three-pointers on six attempts, while Toronto missed seven threes.
But Toronto hit its next 4-of-6 three-pointers to erase a Detroit advantage that was 15 points.
Barnes hit three three-pointers in the first half on six attempts. Barnes had only hit 5-of-22 three-point shots in his first six games of the season, a career-low 22.7%. He shot 34% on threes last season. Barnes finished 3-for-8 from deep though and the Raptors went just 10-for-35 (28.6%). Detroit hit only two more three-pointers, but the Raptors rank last in the NBA in both three-point makes and attempts per game, making it hard to win games and the math battle in today’s three-point crazy NBA.
Toronto trailed by seven after a quarter, but tied the game by halftime and led by eight heading into the fourth.
That quarter was a slog, with strange refereeing, fouls and missed shots abounding. Little separated the two teams. RJ Barrett hit a three-pointer inside of the final two minutes to give Toronto the lead back, but Ivey tied it. But then the Raptors missed three chances and the Pistons one before Detroit got a breakaway dunk with 38.5 seconds remaining. However, a Barnes layup tied it again, giving the Pistons the ball back with 22.3 seconds to go in regulation. That’s when Ivey went to work and finished things off.
The Raptors lost yet another player to injury even before tipoff, with the news coming early Monday afternoon that sophomore Gradey Dick would not play. Toronto was coming off a 122-108 at Cleveland a day earlier, with Dick bowing out after scoring 18 points in 31 minutes due to a calf injury. Fellow back-court starter Immanuel Quickley remained sidelined Monday, along with rookie guard Ja’Kobe Walter (who continues to be on a conditioning stint with Raptors 905) and veteran wing Bruce Brown, who is close to making his season debut. Kelly Olynyk is also still hurt.
Toronto’s next shot at a road victory comes Wednesday in New Orleans against another struggling team with a 4-14 record.