5 things: VanVleet, Siakam step up for Raptors in Nurse's absence

Here are five takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 119-118 win over the Detroit Pistons.

1. This game played out very similarly to the loss to Utah, only Detroit couldn't fully complete the comeback.

Toronto led throughout, although never by enough to pull away by any decisive distance. The Raptors' main players were able to get good looks throughout the game, and that continued right until the final minute, but they couldn't produce stops.

The Pistons attacked the basket relentlessly through Jaden Ivey and Bojan Bogdanovic, and that allowed them to trade blow for blow in a game where the officials also rewarded most drives with a foul call resulting in a slow pace where the two sides combined for 68 foul attempts.

A late catch-and-shoot three from Fred VanVleet to Scottie Barnes, and a driving spin move from Precious Achiuwa gave the Raptors a bit of cushion, but those two also gave it back with Barnes committing an unforced turnover that led to a late three, and Achiuwa needlessly fouling Bogdanovic (although it was very close to a clean steal) in the final moments to extend the game.

2. Toronto's top two carried the offence throughout.

At the start, it was VanVleet who kicked things off with 16 points in the first quarter, including three triples. In the absence of Gary Trent Jr., who was a late scratch with calf soreness, the Raptors chose to line up VanVleet as the shooting guard and he was able to attack without the ball for space to shoot behind screeners.

VanVleet also had the ball in his hands plenty as he was looking to attack the Pistons in drop coverage for pull-up threes, but he did overdo it on a number of failed drives to the basket where VanVleet didn't get the call leaving him with only a bad miss.

Pascal Siakam woke up after a sleepy 2-for-9 showing in the first half by going 8-for-10 from the field with a triple and five free throws in the second half. The Pistons did an admirable job of walling off the paint, but Siakam got to his spots in the midrange and was able to consistently create separation for clean looks. VanVleet and Siakam combined for 63 points and 14 assists to power the offence.

3. Defensively, the matchups were much trickier. Toronto wanted to keep its main scorers out of the action to avoid foul trouble, and left the harder defensive assignments to the young duo of Achiuwa and Barnes.

Achiuwa was matched up with Bojan Bogdanovic, who is having his best season at the age of 33, and he used all his veteran smarts to get around the difference in athleticism. Achiuwa pressed up on the perimeter to take away the three, so Bogdanovic countered his aggression by using up fakes and screens to get downhill before either drawing the foul or delivering a bump to finish at the basket.

Achiuwa is ordinarily a diligent defender, but could not get a handle on his man.

Barnes was left with the task of covering Ivey, who is mostly a slasher but can also sometimes get hot. As always, the Raptors asked Barnes to play the ball handler very tight, hoping to cut off passing angles and create deflections, but Ivey was able to withstand the pressure and use his quick first step to get into the lane where he would then either make a play or finish.

Toronto's help defence was again a step late, as Jakob Poeltl ended up fouling out for the first time in over a calendar year, although a few of the calls were very unlucky in his favour. One way to make things easier is just to not pressure the ball so much that it constantly leads to blow-by drives that put the defence into rotation, but clearly this is a strategic emphasis for this coaching staff.

4. Assistant coach Adrian Griffin was once again pressed into duty as Nick Nurse was away due to a personal matter. Griffin's first challenge was to sort out his rotations with Trent Jr. and O.G. Anunoby unavailable, and he clearly got the starting five right as that lineup consistently won its minutes.

Griffin also chose to show trust in his reserves, extending his rotation out to nine and keeping Dalano Banton and Malachi Flynn in for shifts in the second half despite them not doing much in the first half. Griffin used his challenge wisely to overturn a kick out on a three by Alec Burks that erased three potential points for the Pistons in a game that came down to one possession. Griffin also used his timeouts wisely in the fourth to settle down the team when the Raptors hoisted bad threes that led to the Pistons breaking the other way.

In general, there is a noticeable contrast in Griffin's approach on the sidelines, where he wears a calm face and rarely pressures officials, despite this very much being a game that featured frustrating calls. The interim did very well to secure this win which was trickier than it looked on paper.

5. Achiuwa will have to adjust the most with the addition of Poeltl.

Since recovering from an ankle injury, Achiuwa had gotten into a groove as a small-ball center. He was more involved in the offence because he was screening for the ball, and his job on defence was to help at the basket, which allowed him to showcase his athleticism.

Poeltl is better at both screening and rim protection, which is why the upgrade was made, but now Achiuwa is pushed out to the wing where he essentially played Anunoby's role of guarding the opposing team's best wing while being asked to catch-and-shoot for three.

Achiuwa is nowhere near as comfortable as Anunoby on the threes (he's where Anunoby was as a sophomore) and turns down at least half of his open chances, and his on-ball defence seems to be lagging behind his help defence. But then again, Achiuwa brings more force in attacking the basket, as he showed in two timely scores against Bogdanovic in the second half.

On the first play, he flipped into a face-up move and used a quick fake to throw the defender off balance before exploding into a finish without needing a dribble, and on the second he attacked quickly to get to his spot, absorbed the contact from the defender, before spinning back for the layup. That type of dexterity isn't there when Anunoby is in the same role.

That being said, there's plenty of room for the two to co-exist, especially since Achiuwa should be playing the backup center minutes when Poeltl sits. As of right now, Thad Young is holding that role and he's too stretched at his age to be contesting at the basket.