TORONTO (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 35 points, topping 30 for a career-best ninth time this season, and Pascal Siakam added 28 points as the Toronto Raptors beat the Detroit Pistons 119-118 Sunday for their fourth win in five games.
Scottie Barnes scored 20 points and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Toronto won its second straight win over Detroit after losing the previous six meetings.
VanVleet and the Raptors bounced back after blowing a 12-point lead in the final five minutes of Friday’s home loss to Utah.
Toronto is 20-7 all-time when VanVleet scores 30 or more points. Siakam has scored 25 or more in three straight games.
Detroit’s Dwane Casey worked with both Siakam and VanVleet when he was head coach in Toronto.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 33 points, Alec Burks had 21, and Hamidou Diallo and Jaden Ivey each had 18 for the Pistons. Detroit failed once again to win consecutive games for the second time this season.
Detroit beat San Antonio in double overtime Friday in a matchup of two of the NBA’s worst teams. The Pistons haven’t won back-to-back games since victories at Denver and Utah on Nov. 22 and 23, following all 10 wins since with defeats.
Ivey’s 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter cut it to 116-113 before VanVleet answered with a pair of free throws.
Bogdanovic hit two free throws, but Achiuwa made one of two at the line to put Toronto up by four points with 4.4 seconds left. Ivey’s 3 at the buzzer wasn’t enough for Detroit.
Pistons center Jalen Duren injured his right ankle in the second quarter, but returned to start the second half. The rookie teenager scored a career-high 30 points Friday. The 19-year-old Duren finished with six points in 21 minutes.
Toronto scored 14 points off 18 Detroit turnovers. The Raptors allowed a season-low five points off their eight turnovers.