Jermaine O'Neal was back in the lineup, but the Toronto Raptors' funk continues to grow.
A 10-2 run to start the game was about as good as things got for the Raptors last night as they dropped their seventh in a row. They stayed with the Detroit Pistons for about a half, but when the hosts turned things up a notch in the third quarter, the Raptors had no answer and went down quietly 95-76. "I don't know the exact situation, why or whatever, but we get down and we lose confidence in ourselves," head coach Jay Triano said. "We stopped playing with the energy that we needed. They made a couple of shots and we started hanging our heads and played with a little less urgency. They obviously had a lot more than we did."
O'Neal showed some signs of the rust that builds up when a player sits out 11 of 12 games, but he did provide some early scoring.
It was probably not enough to excite any of the potential trading partners general manager Bryan Colangelo might have on speed dial, but it was a start. At least O'Neal's 20 minutes off the bench and his 11 points on three-of-seven shooting proved his bruised right knee is on the mend.
That was about all the Raptors could take out of this one. In the second half, they got torched defensively as Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson took turns driving into the lane and then finding the open man.
"We've got to be able to stop the ball," O'Neal said of a third quarter in which the Pistons busted open the game.
"And it's not necessarily our guards total jobs. The bigs have to help and get everyone working together. We have to work on running down loose balls when they miss. We're getting murdered in a lot of different areas."
The Pistons were dealing with some unsettling issues of their own. None was bigger than the decision to take all-star Rip Hamilton out of the starting lineup.
It was either Hamilton or Iverson who was going to have to take one for the team, and head coach Michael Curry opted for Hamilton.
Curry praised Hamilton, who has not come off the bench since the end of the 2001-02 season when he was with Washington.
Both players took a back seat to Tayshaun Prince, who drained 11 of 16 shots for a game-high 25 points. His 12 points in the third were the difference as the hosts outscored the Raptors 30-19.
Down by 17 with three minutes remaining, Triano was able to get Nathan Jawai on the floor, marking the Australian's NBA debut.
He might be the only Raptor who looks back on this game with fond memories.
The best news from a Raptors standpoint could come following practice today when Jose Calderon gives his strained right hamstring one more strenuous test. Should everything go well and he doesn't feel any discomfort afterward, he is planning to play against the Chicago Bulls.
It's obvious his team misses him desperately.
