A 25-point deficit late in the game did not phase the Raptors. Instead, they completed their biggest comeback in franchise history.
So how was that for a comeback?
The Raptors engineered the largest comeback in franchise history on Saturday night in Detroit as they overhauled the Pistons.
Toronto trailed 89-64 and eventually erased the 25-point deficit to come away with the victory. But it sure didn't look like that was going to happen at halftime when the Raptors' numbers were simply dreadful.
Toronto had given up 29 points off of 14 turnovers and 20 second-chance points and were looking at a 21-point uphill climb.
When asked what he said at the half, Triano pointed to the numbers. To put them into perspective the Raptors rank 21st in the NBA in allowing points off turnovers at 17.7 per game. They are also in the top 10 in fewest second-chance points allowed, as teams only score 11.8 per game. After allowing a combined 49 points in those two categories, they surrendered only a total of 7 points in those two areas in the final 24 minutes.
There was also, shall we say, some "spirited" chatter in the locker room at the half. It wasn't the coach "peeling the paint off the wall", but instead the players taking each other to task -- with Jerryd Bayless being one of the most vocal participants in the "discussion" in the locker room at halftime.
"We were mad at each other," commented Leandro Barbosa in the locker room after the game. "Nobody was helping anybody and there was no talk on the defense. We had a conversation as players and we came with a different mindset."
With Calderon missing his second-straight game, it was interesting to see both Bayless and Barbosa on the floor together. Triano commented that it relieved the pressure as both were at liberty to be the playmaker, and thus, one player wasn't carrying the entire load in that department.
You have to wonder what will happen in Detroit going forward. It was the second time this season that the Pistons had let a lead of 20 or more points slip away. You hate to see anyone lose their job but with the early season controversy between head coach John Kuester and veteran Tayshaun Prince the question will be asked: is it time for a change?
The comeback by the Raptors certainly doesn’t help. Stay tuned.
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Former Raptor and current Piston Tracy McGrady showed a few flashes of his old self in the first-half when Detroit jumped out to the 21-point half-time lead. McGrady scored six points had four rebounds and a couple of assists in just over nine minutes of action. Nothing close to the one-time dominant player stats, but he is trying to work his way back to a level not seen in quite some time.
With the players association asking for the banishment of the age limit, it's obvious where McGrady, who was drafted as a high-schooler, stands on the issue.
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Toronto was part of history on Friday when they were defeated at home 123-116 by the Denver Nuggets.
The win was the 1,000th of George Karl's coaching career and with all that he and his son Coby have been through from a health standpoint in battles with cancer, you have to feel good for him. Karl joins an exclusive win-club with Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson and fellow Carolina alum Larry Brown.
The one thing that Karl is renowned for is his work with "quirky" personalities.
We chatted with him about it and he just shook his head and said, "hey, we just do the best we can". Think about it, he’s had the likes of Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Allen Iverson, J.R. Smith and more.
He relayed a story about one player that just never seemed to sleep. He said he was coming into the hotel one night just after midnight when he saw the player who was just getting ready to go out. Karl shook his head and laughed and in a sense, that’s why he has been successful. He chooses which battles he wants to fight. You can bet if that player was not performing, something would have been said but as long as the job gets done, he isn’t going to worry about other stuff.
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And finally how about this: Antoine Walker, former first-round pick and NBA champion, is trying to get back into the NBA.
Currently Walker, famous for his shoulder shimmy shakes, is toiling for the Idaho Stampeded of the NBA-D League. It was reported last year that Walker had gone broke despite earning somewhere in the neighbourhood of $110 million in contracts as an NBA player.
