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Pistons seek season sweep of Raptors

Mar 13, 2009 - 6:14 AM By Alan Ferguson Stats Writer

Detroit (32-31) at Toronto (23-42), 7:00 p.m. EDT

TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Detroit Pistons looked like they were headed back in the right direction. Then came their second disappointing loss in five days.

Bouncing back with a win Friday night might not be as impressive as it was earlier this week considering the Pistons are visiting a struggling Toronto Raptors team that has been playing some of the worst defense in franchise history.

Detroit also is looking to complete its first season sweep of Toronto in 11 years.

The Pistons (32-31) had won four straight following a season-high, eight-game losing streak from February 8-25, but blown leads have caused them to lose two of the last three. They are sixth in the Eastern Conference but only a half-game ahead of Philadelphia, which hosts Chicago on Friday.

Detroit led visiting New York by 12 early in the fourth quarter Wednesday night but lost 116-111 in overtime. Antonio McDyess had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the Pistons' first 20-20 game in more than 11 seasons.

"We can't let this loss affect us," McDyess said. "Tonight, it kind of hit us a little hard, but we know there's always another game. We just have to be ready for the next one."

Detroit had an 11-point lead Saturday night at Atlanta but couldn't match the Hawks' rally in an 87-83 loss. The Pistons rebounded with Monday night's 98-94 victory over visiting Orlando, which owns the league's fourth-best record.

Now Detroit tries to bounce back by beating the team with the East's second-worst record.

The Pistons have won three straight over Toronto (23-42) and are 13-3 in the last 16 meetings, but those losses have come in their last five trips to Air Canada Centre. Detroit hasn't swept Toronto since winning all four meetings in 1997-98.

Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons to wins in both matchups this season, finishing with 27 points in a 100-93 win in Toronto on November 5 and scoring 25 in a 95-76 home victory January 21.

Prince has scored 20-plus points in consecutive games with 25 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday despite shooting 8-of-21. Richard Hamilton has averaged 25.0 points and 6.4 assists in seven games since returning to the starting lineup, but injuries to the man he replaced -- Allen Iverson (back) -- and fellow starter Rasheed Wallace (calf) have hurt the Pistons' depth.

Iverson is expected to miss another week, and Wallace, who was hurt in Monday's win, is doubtful for the Raptors.

Toronto has lost six straight, a slide during which Chris Bosh has averaged 25.5 points and Andrea Bargnani has added 21.4 per game, but scoring hasn't been the problem lately. While they have averaged 102.8 points during their skid, the Raptors (23-42) have allowed an average of 113.5 and 50.8 percent from the field.

They let Philadelphia shoot 56.4 percent Wednesday night in a 115-106 defeat, giving up at least 100 points for the ninth straight game.

"We didn't do a good job of getting in front of people defensively," said Toronto coach Jay Triano, whose team could match its longest losing streak of the season Friday. "Our offense was fine, but we couldn't stop them."

The Raptors last allowed 100 points in nine straight from March 25-April 9, 2005, but they haven't given up that much in 10 consecutive games since their inception in 1995-96.