Somewhere around the middle of the third quarter it seemed to click in the collective minds of the Raptors.
Defend like we can, they appeared to think, and this game’s going to be over.
And so it was.
With about eight minutes of aggressive, ball-hawking, swarming, disruptive defence, the Raptors pulled away from the Detroit Pistons in front of a typically pro-Toronto crowd at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.
Toronto’s 112-99 win, their third in a row, became a near certainty during a run late in the third quarter when the Raptors simply clamped down defensively on the Pistons.