Toronto, ON – Greg Monroe paced five teammates in double figures with 24 points as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, 108-98.
Monroe shot 10-of-18 from the field for Detroit, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Rodney Stuckey (18 points, six assists), Jonas Jerebko (15 points) and Khris Middleton (11 points) were all impressive off the bench.
"We gutted it out," Detroit head coach Lawrence Frank said. "After three games in four nights, that was something I was happy with."
Jose Calderon, who spent eight seasons in Toronto before being traded in January, tallied 19 points and nine assists in the triumph.
"It was really emotional," Calderon said, who was honored with a pre-game video tribute. "It was a great moment. I was very humbled."
Rudy Gay led all scorers with 34 points for Toronto, shooting 13-of-18 from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Gay also chipped in six rebounds and five assists. Jonas Valanciunas added 17 points and five blocks, while DeMar DeRozen had 15 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals for the Raptors, who have lost seven of eight.
The Pistons led 25-24 after the first quarter, although the Raptors carried a 55-54 advantage into intermission. Both teams shot greater than 54 percent from the floor over the opening 24 minutes, and the lead changed hands on 15 occasions.
Toronto opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run in the first six minutes to go up by 10, and it eventually held a 79-75 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Detroit came out firing in the fourth quarter, running out to a 90-81 lead with 7:51 remaining thanks to a 15-2 surge. The Raptors wouldn't go quietly however, ripping off a 13-4 run themselves to take a 94-93 lead on a Gay 3- pointer with under five minutes to play.
The Pistons responded by scoring 10 straight points to put the game away.
"The first team to play defense was going to win the game, and (Detroit) played it first," Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said.
Game Notes
The Raptors have lost four straight at home and are just 17-20 at the Air Canada Centre this season ... The Pistons are 7-3 against the Raptors in the past 10 meetings ... Detroit outscored Toronto at the foul line, 15-8 ... Toronto committed just 10 turnovers, while Detroit coughed the ball up only eight times.
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