Toronto delivers Detroit their 11th-straight loss and sets franchise record of 44 assists

The Raptors just set a franchise record of 44 assists in a single game during their blowout 142-113 victory at the expense of the Pistons, who lost their eleventh-straight game on Sunday. Toronto ended the contest with more assists than Detroit made baskets (39). 

Pascal Siakam led the scoring with 23 points to his name, followed by Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder who both dropped 17. The squad’s previous record was set on November 18, 2019, when they handed out 40 assists against the Charlotte Hornets.

“Today was one of those games where the ball was on a string for us,” teammate Jakob Poeltl said. “Everybody was sharing the ball, everybody was moving well. You create a lot of easy shots that way.”

The Raptors are playing impressive basketball lately, as they’ve been dishing out 25 or more assists per game in the last nine matches, which is their second-longest streak in franchise history. They enjoyed a 10-game run on January 2020.

As for the Pistons, who share the worst record in the NBA at 2-12, had Stanley Umude hit 19 points and 18 from Cade Cunningham. Their squad haven’t won a single game since beating the Bulls on October 28.

“I think a few of our guys are dealing with how hard the league is,” Detroit coach Monty Williams shared after the contest. “When you’re dealing with it, the one thing you can control is your competition level. I didn’t see that across the board tonight.”

As for Cunningham, he considered it “unacceptable” for his trainer to question his own squad’s level of competition as they endure their long-losing streak.

“That should be the last thing that needs to be asked of us or talked about, is how hard we compete,” the Pistons player said. “That should be a given.”

Cade, who shot 7 -for-17 this Sunday, was the only Detroit starter to drop more than 10 points. “We’ve got to be realistic about the situation,” he expressed in frustration. “It’s hard to just be like ‘Oh, we’re good, we’re good,’ because we’re bad. We’ve got to address that.”

Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic took the blame after their last-second loss against the Celtics last week

In spite of Toronto’s recent form, they lost to Boston before their blowout victory against Detroit. The Raptors went toe-to-toe with the Massachusetts franchise, but the game ended up in their rival’s favor after a strong finish in the final minutes.

However, coach Darko Rajakovic admitted the he made a poor decision that cost them the game. “I was down to two timeouts, I was hoping to get him in faster,” he told reporters this weekend. “(Scottie Barnes) was already 12 minutes straight on the court. I literally wanted 30 seconds to give him a break and get him back in the game. Unfortunately, that’s on me, I’m gonna own that one.”

"That's on me."

One late-game decision prompted Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković to reflect following Toronto's NBA In-Season Tournament loss to the Celtics.https://t.co/7ULgjqJkgk

— NESN (@NESN) November 19, 2023

The Serbian coach recognized his team’s incredible offensive displays in recent matches, but knows that this doesn’t exempt them from losing important matches.

“We had moments where we were playing really solid defense and really solid offense,” Rajakovic shared. “We’re talking about, like, one of the best teams in the league right now and we were able to hold them down to 108 points.”