Malik Beasley scored seven of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. In comparison, Cade Cunningham recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists as the Detroit Pistons edged the Toronto Raptors 99-95 on Friday night, remaining undefeated in NBA Cup play.
Tobias Harris contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds, Jaden Ivey added 14 points, and Jalen Duren finished with 12 for the Pistons. Rookie Ron Holland chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds but struggled from beyond the arc, missing all six of his 3-point attempts.
Despite shooting 8-for-38 from deep, Detroit held off a late push from Toronto, who also had long-range trouble, hitting only 8 of 31 attempts.
Jakob Poeltl led the Raptors with a season-high 25 points and tied his career-best with 19 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to snap Toronto’s six-game losing streak. RJ Barrett added 22 points, while Gradey Dick scored 16 despite a tough night from three, going 1-for-10. The Raptors have now lost 10 of their last 11 games.
Takeaways
Pistons: Detroit, winless in last season’s NBA Cup tournament, is now 2-0 in this year’s competition after an overtime victory against Miami earlier in the week.
Raptors: Toronto fell to 0-8 when trailing at halftime and struggled to mount comebacks throughout the season.
Key Moment
Toronto had a chance to steal the game late, but Dick missed two critical 3-point attempts in the final 21 seconds—one that could have given the Raptors the lead and another that would have tied the score.
Key Stat
Cunningham struggled to find his shot early, shooting just 4-for-18 through three quarters, but he came alive in the fourth, making two of three attempts, including one of his two 3-pointers.
Up Next
Toronto travels to Boston on Saturday, while Detroit visits Washington on Sunday.
