Raptors 125 Pistons 113
TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored 30 points, Fred Van Vleet added 13 points and 11 assists, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons 125-113 on Wednesday for their first win against former coach Dwane Casey.
Siakam put up at least 30 points for the third time in five games this season, and added five rebounds and five assists as Toronto (4-1) improved to 1-3 against Casey since he became head coach of the Pistons last year.
Kyle Lowry had 20 points, Norm Powell and Serge Ibaka had 19 off the bench, and OG Anunoby added 13 in a well-balanced Raptors attack.
Andre Drummond had 21 points and 22 boards to lead Detroit (2-3) and Derrick Rose poured in 16 points with 10 assists. Langston Galloway had 17 points and Markieff Morris added 16.
Siakam scored 19 points in a dominant third quarter that saw Toronto pull ahead by as many as 20 before ending the frame with a 101-85 lead.
The Raptors opened the third on an 8-0 run for a 13-point lead, and extended the advantage to 82-62 a few minutes later on a 10-0 run capped by a Siakam three-pointer. Siakam sank his third three of the game in the final seconds of the third.
A pair of three-pointers from Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk cut Detroit’s deficit to 13 points with less than three minutes to play in the fourth quarter but that’s as close as the Pistons would get.
Wednesday’s matchup marked Casey’s first game in Toronto since the Raptors won the NBA Championship last June. Casey won all three games Detroit played against his old team last year in his first season as coach of the Pistons.
Casey, Toronto’s all-time leader in coaching victories (320) and winning percentage (.573), was fired by the Raptors in May 2018. He was honoured as the NBA’s coach of the year in his final season in Toronto.
Casey was replaced by Nick Nurse, who previously served as his assistant with the Raptors.
“Obviously we had a great run together. We won a heck of a lot of ball games, and fought a lot of battles together,” Nurse said before the game. “He did an outstanding job with Detroit last year and they’re going to be knocking on the door again this year.
“They’re very well coached, they’re hard to play against. … So, tremendous amount of respect for him as a person and as a coach. He keeps putting out teams that win.”
Casey received a warm ovation from the fans at Scotiabank Arena when he was announced as the Pistons coach before the game, and the Raptors played a video tribute for him during a timeout in the first quarter.
The Raptors led 37-28 after 12 minutes and 64-58 at the half. Anunoby ignited the crowd early with a pair of dunks, including one on a Detroit turnover that put Toronto up 28-20 with two minutes left in the first quarter.