MVN - Most Valuable Network

Raptors Fall in Detroit, Still Hold 6-seed in East

The Raptors fell 91-84 to the Pistons in Detroit this afternoon, as the benches were really the difference. The Raptors did a good job limiting the Pistons starters, as Chancey Billups’ 14 points was the highest scoring Detroit starter. However, the same couldn’t be said for the Raptors limiting the Detroit bench, as they had 48 points, outscoring their starters by five points, led by Rodney Stuckey’s 18 points and Jason Maxiell’s 14 points.

The Raptors bench meanwhile, could not duplicate Friday night’s impressive performance, scoring only 18 points. Particularly disappointing were Carlos Delfino and Andrea Bargnani, who both had great games Friday night but struggled tonight, scoring a combined 8 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field. In fact, the Raptors got offensive production from really only three players, with Chris Bosh carrying them much of the game, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But beyond that only Rasho Nesterovic (18 points, 7 rebounds) and T.J. Ford (10 points, 8 assists) put up any kind of offensive numbers, with Ford going 4-of-11 from the field just to hit double-digits.

Now this isn’t to say the Raptors didn’t play a great game, as even though they trailed for most of the game they were always in the game and as mentioned before pretty much shut down the Detroit starters. But the second units were the difference, with the Pistons bench scoring all their fourth quarter points and outplaying the Raptors starters on their way to giving the Pistons breathing room down the stretch, as six points was the closest Toronto could get in the second half of the fourth quarter. The consistency of the Pistons bench this season is definitely one of the reasons they sit where they’re at in the standings while the Raptors are mired in mediocrity with their inconsistent bench.

Playoff Picture:

CLE: —-, Remaining games: @Phi, Det

WAS: 2 GB, Remaining games: Ind, @Orl

TOR: 4 GB, Remaining games: Mia, @Chi

PHI: 4 GB, Remaining games: Cle, @Cha

Last night the Wizards defended their home court against the 76ers, winning 109-93 by outscoring Philadelphia 34-9 in the fourth quarter. This is probably the best possible outcome for the Raptors, as even with today’s loss they still hold the number six position because they hold the tiebreaker over the 76ers. All they have to do is finish their business against two teams they’ve pretty much dominated this season (5-0, 28.8 point margin of victory against the Heat and Bulls this year).

It’s now basically 6th or 7th for the Raptors, as they’re two games behind the Wizards with only two games to play, so any combination of a Wizards win or Raptors loss gives Washington the first round rematch with LeBron James and the Cavs.

But like I said, if the Raptors take care of business like they should in these final two games they get a first round date against the Magic instead of the Pistons, which is much preferred in my opinion. Also, if the 76ers fall to the Cavs tomorrow night and the Raptors defeat the Heat then Toronto will clinch the 6-seed regardless because of the tie-breaker, allowing them to rest some players in the finale in Chicago.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Toronto Raptors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.