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Raptors down Pistons, tie club wins record

Apr 14, 2014 - 4:16 AM Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 30 points to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 116-107 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Kyle Lowry tallied 28 points and seven assists and Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 points and grabbed eight boards for the Raptors, who tied a franchise season record for wins (47) and have a chance to break the mark with two games left to play. Greivis Vasquez contributed 14 points off the bench.

"That's big, to be tied with the franchise record and have a chance to break it. We've come a long way," DeRozan said.

Toronto is now tied with the Chicago Bulls for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Both teams have two games remaining, however, the Bulls own the tiebreaker due to a better conference record.

Greg Monroe netted 23 points and had 10 rebounds and Andre Drummond had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons, who have lost three straight and five of seven. Rodney Stuckey totaled 18 points, Brandon Jennings scored 17 with seven assists and Kyle Singler chipped in 14 points in defeat.

"We had no rhythm early on and we didn't guard," Pistons head coach John Loyer said.

Trailing by one, 95-94, with 7 1/2 left in the game the Raptors surged ahead with an 11-2 run to stake themselves an 8-point lead, 105-97, with 4 1/2 remaining. Detroit came within six points twice in the final 4:17 both times following baskets by Jennings, however, a pair of jumpers from Vasquez and a 3-point play by Valanciunas kept Detroit at bay and enabled Toronto to seal the outcome.

Through the first two minutes of the fourth, DeRozan and Monroe combined for the first 12 points, with DeRozan having the upper hand with seven and helping the hosts to a 94-91 lead.

To start the third, the Pistons trailed, 63-49, and went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to five. The Raptors, however, pushed the lead to 10 points with 6 1/2 left in the third.

Detroit outscored the Raptors 20-11 through the last six minutes of the third to cut its deficit to one, 87-86, heading into the final 12 minutes of play. Monroe put in 10 points for the Pistons during the quarter ending burst.

Earlier, in the second quarter, the Raptors maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the frame, allowing Detroit to come within 10, while leading by as many as 18 points.

Toronto took control out of the block and led by 17, 24-7, with 5:21 left in the first quarter. The Pistons trailed, 42-26, heading into the second period.

Game Notes

Detroit travels to Oklahoma City Wednesday to wrap up its season against the Thunder ... Toronto has now won five of six in the series against the Pistons ... The Raptors have scored 100 or more points in six straight games ... Detroit fell to 0-3 against the Raptors this season.