When the Toronto Raptors take on the struggling Detroit Pistons on Friday night, they will attempt to restore home court advantage.
Before their Wednesday defeat of the visiting Indiana Pacers by a score of 118-114, the Raptors (35-38) had won seven consecutive games at home.
Meanwhile, the host Atlanta Hawks defeated the Pistons 129-107 on Tuesday, handing them their fourth consecutive defeat.
When the Raptors played the Pacers in the first game of a four-game homestand, they were without Scottie Barnes (wrist), Gary Trent Jr. (elbow), and Precious Achiuwa (hamstring).
On Thursday, none of them participated in practice, and all three are listed as questionable for Friday. After practice, Barnes used a brace on his injured left wrist to shoot.
After a sluggish start, the Raptors, who are 23-14 at home, trailed the Pacers 36-26 in the first quarter.
Fred VanVleet had 28 points and 11 assists, Pascal Siakam had 31 points (25 in the second half), and Jakob Poeltl had 23 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors.
Toronto shot 7-for-34 (or 20.6%) from three-point range. At the conclusion of the game, Chris Boucher’s buzzer-beater was the Raptors’ final successful trey. Overall, they shot 43.8% from the field.
With 9:14 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Raptors had a four-point lead, but they were down by five with 4:25 remaining and seven in the final minute.
While the Pacers committed 18 turnovers, Toronto scored 21 points off of them and gave up eight points on 10 of them.
The Raptors have prevailed in all three meetings with the Pistons.
Detroit suffered their 15th defeat in 16 games when the Hawks outrebounded them 61-35 in rebounding. Also, outscored 23-12 in additional opportunity focuses.
Detroit’s Bagley also had three steals, two blocked shots, and eight rebounds. 21 points and six assists were provided by Killian Hayes.
After suffering the injury in a collision with Kevin Love of the Miami Heat on Sunday, Jalen Duren (cervical whiplash) did not play on Tuesday and was not included in the injury report on Thursday. Despite missing his fourth consecutive Detroit game due to a sore right hip, Isaiah Livers is listed as probable. After missing one game, R.J. Hampton (lower back) returned and scored nine points.
The Pistons made the announcement on Thursday that forward Eugene Omoruyi has agreed to stay with the team for the remainder of the season.
Thursday marked the end of Omoruyi’s second 10-day contract. Since signing his first 10-day contract on March 3, the Orangeville, Ontario native has been a force for the Pistons, averaging 8.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder for 23 games, averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
