Pistons Dominate Raptors Despite Player Suspensions

The Detroit Pistons’ Caris Le Vert, right, loses the ball to the Raptors’ Scottie Barnes during the second half in Toronto on Wednesday. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO – Cade Cunningham scored 28 points, Paul Reed contributed 16 of his 22 in the first quarter, and the Detroit Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors 113-95 on Wednesday night, just before the All-Star break for both teams.

The top team in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons won for six out of seven games even though they were without centers Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren. Both players started serving suspensions given earlier that day due to their involvement in a fight during a win against Charlotte on Monday.

Duncan Robinson added 13 points while Tobias Harris had 12 points along with 11 rebounds as the Pistons improved their road record to 18-7. Detroit led throughout and claimed their seventh straight victory over Toronto.

For Toronto, Immanuel Quickley scored 18 points and Scottie Barnes finished with 17. RJ Barrett contributed 16 points and Brandon Ingram had 13.

The Pistons dominated inside with a score of 50-34 for points in the paint and grabbed 46 rebounds compared to Toronto’s 35.

Cunningham also recorded seven rebounds and nine assists while tying his season-high by hitting six out of eleven attempts from beyond the arc. His career-best is seven threes made, which he set last season.

Reed started his seventh game by kicking things off with a three-pointer and went perfect on all seven of his shots during an explosive first quarter.

Toronto center Jakob Poeltl made his return after sitting out for 24 games due to lower back pain. He managed nine points and six rebounds in just twenty minutes on the floor.

Up next

Pistons: At New York next Thursday.

Raptors: At Chicago next Thursday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews. com/hub/nba

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