Pistons Beat Raptors 101-95
Posted January 14, 2011 10:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Tracy McGrady scored 22 points and added five assists as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors 101-95 on Friday.
Rodney Stuckey added 19 points, Charlie Villanueva provided 16 more from the bench and Greg Monroe chipped in 12 for the Pistons (13-26).
Andrea Bargnani led the game with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting as the Raptors ended a string of four successive games with a shooting percentage of 50 per cent or better.
DeMar DeRozan added 15, Linas Kleiza 13 and Jose Calderon 11 for Toronto (13-26).
Injuries continued to be a problem for the Raptors as Leandro Barbosa was helped off the court with 3.2 seconds left in the first half with a strained right hamstring.
Amir Johnson started after being a game-time decision because of back spasms, but Sonny Weems did not play again because of back spasms.
After trailing most of the game, Bargnani hit two in a row to pull the Raptors to within five points with 1:18 to play.
But Toronto couldn’t take advantage of a McGrady miss with 33.9 left, and when Stuckey made a free throw with 18.7 seconds remaining, Detroit led by six. Bargnani missed a layup attempt and the Pistons had the game back under control.
The Raptors started the fourth quarter trailing by nine points, but fell behind by 11 when Ben Gordon made a three-pointer with 5:35 remaining. Calderon and Bargnani both missed shots on the Raptors next possession and Gordon put the Pistons ahead by 13.
Bargnani brought the Raptors back to within 11 but missed his free throw. DeRozan and Bargnani were 1-for-2 from the free throw line to bring Toronto within nine and DeRozan’s pull-up jumper brought them to within seven with 3:20 to play. Tayshaun Prince put Detroit up by nine.
The Pistons increased their seven-point lead in the third quarter, building it to 15, but when Kleiza scored on successive layups in the final minute, the Raptors had pulled to within six. McGrady’s three-pointer at the end of the third gave Detroit an 83-74 lead.
With Villanueva scoring 14 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter, the Pistons increased a five-point first-quarter lead to 14. But the Raptors put on a run and when Kleiza hit a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left, it cut the deficit to 61-54 at the half.
Bargnani led the Raptors with 16 first-half points while Rodney Stuckey added 13 for the Pistons.
The Pistons led 31-26 after the first quarter on nine points from McGrady and eight from Monroe. Bargnani led first-quarter scorers with 10 points.
