Field Level Media
Mar 3, 2021
Wayne Ellington scored his season-best 25 points in going 8-for-11 from 3-point range and the visiting Detroit Pistons defeated the depleted Toronto Raptors 129-105 Wednesday at Tampa.
Two players had triple-doubles for the Pistons, the second time in one game in team history.
Mason Plumlee had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Dennis Smith Jr. had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the Pistons ended a three-game losing streak.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed because of health and safety protocols.
Rodney McGruder and Saben Lee each contributed 20 points for the Pistons and Svi Mykhailiuk had 17 points.
Norman Powell had his season-best 36 points for the Raptors. Kyle Lowry added 21 points, Chris Boucher had 18 points and eight rebounds and Aaron Baynes scored 13.
The Pistons led by as many as 21 points during the third quarter and took an 18-point advantage into the fourth quarter. Smith's layup stretched the margin to 23 with 5:46 to go.
The Raptors were without coach Nick Nurse and five assistant coaches and players OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw (health and safety protocols).
Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo replaced Nurse for the second game in a row.
The Pistons were without Jerami Grant (left quadriceps contusion) and Josh Jackson (illness).
Detroit led 43-37 after the first quarter.
The Pistons scored the first eight points of the second quarter to lead by 14. Toronto cut the margin to nine on Chris Boucher's layup with 6:48 left in the quarter. Detroit regained a 14-point lead on Saddiq Bey's layup two minutes later. Toronto ended the second quarter on a 7-2 run and Detroit led 69-60 at halftime.
Toronto scored the first four points of the third quarter, but Detroit responded with a 9-0 surge. Ellington's 3-pointer increased the lead to 18 points with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter.
Powell's 3-pointer trimmed the lead to 12 with 3:14 left in the quarter, but the Pistons came back to lead by 21. Lowry completed the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer, cutting Detroit's lead to 98-80.
--Field Level Media