Toronto — Casey Curse Officially Broken as Raptors Down Pistons 118-97
Imagine for a moment if you will, a coach of an NBA team that has three straight 50 win seasons. You end the last at 59-23 and win coach of the year, only to get fired. Don’t worry, you will quickly get a job and beat your previous team over and over again. The Casey Curse for the Raptors begins.
Last night proved to be the final blow to the curse as the Raps completed the season sweep of the Pistons.
“They were like a machine to start the game,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said of Toronto. “That was the difference between the first three games and this game.”
The engine of that machine was Fred VanVleet who started the game with 10 points in the first quarter to lead Toronto to a 38-26 lead. Pascal Siakam would take it from there going 12-19 to lead the team with 32 points.
The X factor, like many nights for the Raptors was Montreal native Chris Boucher, who’s energy, 19 points and 13 rebounds was exactly the spark needed.
“He’s best, we’re best, when he’s just flying around,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s a little wild sometimes. It’s fun to watch. He’s blocking shots. He’s trying to dunk everything, he’s hoisting up 3s.”
With the loss Detroit falls to 16-58 worst in the NBA and 7-29 on the road, which is the worst in the Eastern Conference. The rebuild is still in process but it doesn’t mean frustration isn’t brewing.
“I feel like our effort was horrible tonight,” Ivey said. “We’ve just got to have more effort.”
The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes are real, but can the Pistons and Coach Casey keep motivated and put fourth the effort to finish the season strong.
“We’ve got to all look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘Is our spirit there?’” Ivey said. “That’s the most important thing when you step out there on the floor.”
Fluent Finale: The Raptors improved to 7-0 when holding opponents below 100 points.
Now you’re more fluent!
