The sputtering Detroit Pistons will probably have to resolve their road woes to find themselves in the postseason for the first time in five years. Toronto searches for its 15th home victory in 19 tries Wednesday night if this hosts Detroit.
The Raptors (35-27) had won nine of 11 just before Monday's 101-94 loss at second-place Brooklyn, trimming their result in three games. Toronto was 6 of 23 from 3-point range after shooting 43.2 percent from deep over its previous six games. The Raptors, who haven't reached the playoffs since 2008 and won their only division title a year earlier, had hit 10 or more 3-pointers four times during that six-game stretch.
Kyle Lowry scored 21 while DeMar DeRozan only agreed to be 3 for 9 with 14 points. "It was playoff type of basketball with physicality. I've said hello forever that we have to get ready to play that type of basketball," coach Dwane Casey said. "We had three big time turnovers because they got into us at the end of the game."
A return home for three games should serve the Raptors well. They've won 14 of 18 in Toronto after starting the season 4-8 there.
Toronto will be searching for its fourth win in five meetings with Detroit (25-39) following a 112-91 home victory on Jan. 8. Lowry's 21 points led four players with a minimum of 16. DeRozan scored 19 on 3-of-15 shooting but was 13 of 16 from the free-throw line.
That marked the last loss during a season-worst six-game skid for that Pistons, who avoided a fourth straight loss and won for that fourth time in 14 games having a 99-89 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday. Josh Smith scored 24 while Rodney Stuckey added 23 to help Detroit move within three games of eighth-place Atlanta.
However, Detroit continues to be 8-16 over its last 24, with only two of those victories coming against teams over .500. The Pistons also have dropped nine straight on the highway since beating Washington on Jan. 18. It's their longest road slide since losing 11 consecutively from Feb. 23-April 5, 2011, with opponents shooting 49.9 percent and scoring 112 or even more seven times for the reason that span.