On Wednesday night, Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons traveled to Canada for their game against the Toronto Raptors. This was also Dwane Casey’s first game in the Scotiabank Arena since he was fired by the Raptors organization. Griffin recorded 30 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in the Pistons win.
The Pistons won the game with a buzzer beater from Reggie Bullock. The play was orchestrated by Dwane and initiated by José Calderón, two ex-raptors. The game ended 106-104 and the Pistons secured their 7th win of the season.
Reggie Bullock, game winner in Toronto
Dwane Casey with revenge over his former team pic.twitter.com/3OE60SiaPm
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) November 15, 2018
The Pistons celebrated the win obviously in support of their coach who was ousted just a few short weeks before he won the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year award. They wanted this one for Casey and Blake Griffin made it known.
Griffin’s comments after the game, according to Keith Langlois from Pistons.com, showed that the Pistons wanted to get this one for Casey to show what the Raptors organization, in particular, GM Masai Ujiri, is missing.
A Toronto reporter asked Blake Griffin if it gives Pistons players a degree of confidence in their coach when he gives them those tools to win games.
“We know that. This isn’t like we just discovered this for the first time today,” he said. “We’ve put in plays like that all the time in practice. He demands execution and we executed. Maybe to Toronto fans – or certainly their GM, maybe – it was a surprise. But not to us.”
