FILE – Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors controls the ball against the Houston Rockets during the second half at Toyota Center on February 3, 2023 in Houston, Texas. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
Fred VanVleet scored 16 of his 35 points in the first quarter, and the Toronto Raptors went on to beat the Detroit Pistons 119-118 on Sunday afternoon.
Pascal Siakam added 28 points for the Raptors, who started the five-game run with a 2-1 scoreline. Scottie Barnes contributed 20 points for Toronto and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 33 points for the Pistons. Alec Burks added 21 points, Hamidou Diallo and Jaden Ivey each had 18 and Isaiah Stewart had 16.
After the Raptors took a 14 lead early in the fourth quarter, Detroit slashed its deficit to nine with 3:04 left. VanVleet responded with 13 footers. Bogdanovic hit a three-pointer to take the lead to six with the game down to 1:08, and Ivey’s three-pointer cut the score to 116-113 with 10.1 seconds remaining.
18 hour break for FVV 🔥
3Q is rolling out on the NBA App: https://t.co/0rrSPxPfsy pic.twitter.com/QBCmO8583h
– NBA (@NBA) February 12, 2023
After the Raptors went out of reach with free throws, Ivey hit another 3-pointer on the final whistle.
Detroit’s Jalen Duren injured his ankle in the second quarter and returned in the third quarter. He finished with six points.
The Raptors are absent from coach Nick Nurse (for personal reasons) and are led by assistant coach Adrian Griffin. Gary Trent Jr. (calf) and OG Anunoby (wrist) do not play for Toronto.
Toronto shot 48.3% (42 to 87) from the field. Detroit hit 50.6% (40 to 79), including 53.7% (22 to 41) in the second half.
Toronto led 31-29 after one inning. Diallo opened the second half with a jump to end the game.
Toronto took a five-point lead with the game at 9:00, but the Pistons came back to take a 51-47 lead with 1:37 left thanks to three free throws from Bogdanovic. Toronto responded with a 6-1 lead to lead 53-52 after halftime.
Toronto used an 8-0 gain to take a 67-58 lead with 7:48 remaining in the third inning. Siakam’s game gave Toronto a 10 point lead with 4:26 remaining, and Toronto led 84-77 after three quarters.
The Raptors opened the fourth half with a score of 8-1 to lead 92-78. Detroit reduced the lead to five points after Diallo replaced it with 7:39 left. Achiuwa’s change gave Toronto a 13-point lead with 4:22 to play.
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