(Sports Network) - The Toronto Raptors are hoping they can take advantage of the fact that the Detroit Pistons are without their two top scorers when the two teams square off at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
You can watch the game on TSN2 and TSN2 HD at 7pm et/4pm pt.
The Raptors have lost two in a row since winning their season opener versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unlike Detroit, they are coming off a 125-116 home loss versus Orlando on Sunday.
Chris Bosh tallied 35 points and 16 rebounds for the Raptors, who will open a three-game road trip against New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio after this evening's tilt with Detroit. Andrea Bargnani and Hedo Turkoglu chipped in 26 and 19 points, respectively, in a losing effort. Turkoglu helped lead the Magic to the NBA Finals in the summer before joining Toronto this offseason.
Toronto needs to defend the perimeter better versus the Pistons after Orlando buried 17-of-32 three-pointers.
For Detroit, meanwhile, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have both been sidelined with injuries and are expected to miss tonight's game as well. Hamilton hasn't played since a season-opening win at Memphis because of an ankle injury, while Prince missed Tuesday's win over Orlando due to a balky back. His consecutive-games streak came to an end at 496, including a league-best 439 straight starts.
Ben Gordon picked up the slack in the victory over the Magic with 23 points, while both Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey added 20 points.
"It just creates opportunities for other guys to step up," Detroit forward and ex-Raptors Charlie Villanueva said of his teammates. "Guys took a challenge and play good defense down the stretch and made big shots. Will played tremendously well giving us a spark when we needed him off the bench."
Villanueva chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who averted a three-game losing streak to even their mark at 2-2. Detroit is near the bottom in the NBA in scoring so far this season, and will take on a vulnerable Toronto defense tonight.
Detroit took all three matchups with the Raptors a year ago and has won four straight and 14 of the last 17 contests in this series. These two teams have split the previous 10 meetings at Air Canada Centre.