Raptors stall in Detroit
Pistons fire back with late rally
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- It was a winter blunderland for the Raptors last night.
Leading by as much as 12 points in the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons, who lost defensive star Ben Wallace in the first half, the Raptors managed to find a way to lose the important Central Division matchup 95-91 after holding the lead for the most of the game in snow-bound Auburn Hills.
The victory was Detroit's 10th in a row, improving its record to 26-13, and the loss dropped the Raps to 19-17.
The bad news didn't end with the score. Forward Morris Peterson, the Raps' key guy off the bench, went down with a sprained right ankle in the fourth quarter and was forced to leave the game, while Michael Curry, the team's best defensive player, suffered a bruised sternum as a result of a knee in the chest from Richard Hamilton. X-rays proved to be negative and the two are listed as day to day.
With rookie centre Chris Bosh still out with a sprained right knee, the Raptors are facing their first major challenge of the season, especially with three more road games, beginning with the 22-16 New Orleans Hornets tonight.
Nobody inside the Raptors' dressing room was thrilled with the team's choke job in the fourth quarter last night, as the Pistons outscored Toronto 29-19.
But Detroit native Jalen Rose also was angry with the officials. The Pistons went to the foul line 41 times in the game, for 32 points, compared to Toronto's 21, and 17 points. Rose, who had 17 points and eight assists, suggested that the referees let the home side get away with some questionable calls.
"As a player I didn't appreciate the fact that once the Detroit players started being unruly and cursing at the officials, it seemed that they started get calls in their favour," Rose said.
"I remember one instance in particular, Hamilton cursed out an official and he got three straight calls."
But Rose and his teammates acknowledged that it wasn't just the referees who did in the visiting side.
"We had a team without a key player and we just let them come out there and take it to us," said forward Donyell Marshall, the best Raptor on the floor with 20 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. "This was a game for us to catch a whole game on them and move up against a team we could possibly meet in the first round (of the playoffs)."
The Raptors charged to a 49-38 lead at the half, thanks to Marshall's 14 points and 12 assists and Vince Carter's 15 points, but in the third quarter the Pistons climbed to within three with less than three minutes left, largely because the Raptors picked up nine fouls and Carter's shooting went ice cold. Carter finished with a team-leading 27 points, but shot 7-for-20 overall.
The Raps were up 72-66 with 12 minutes remaining and lost the lead for good when Hamilton, who had 27 points, put Detroit up 86-85 with 2:35 on the clock.
Centre Mehmet Okur, stepping up admirably for Wallace, who was ejected late in the second quarter when he kicked the ball after being slapped with a technical foul, responded with 27 points and 14 rebounds. The Pistons outrebounded Toronto 54-39 overall.
The game was delayed for 29 minutes as it took referees more than four hours to drive to the arena because of heavy snowfall.
