Toronto Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl made his return Wednesday evening against the Detroit Pistons after missing nearly two months.
Poeltl had been out since Dec. 21 with a back injury and had been on the shelf for Toronto’s last 25 games.
Poeltl tallied nine points on 4-7 shooting and pulled down six rebounds in 20:08 of action as the Raps were blown out 113-95 in their final game before the All-Star break.
Poeltl played Wednesday’s game on a minutes restriction as head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters prior to tip-off that the team intended to ease him back into game action.
The 30-year-old Austrian came into Wednesday averaging 9.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in 21 games so far this season while playing 25.2 minutes a night.
Cade Cunningham had a game-high 28 points in Detroit’s victory Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena, extending their lead atop the Eastern Conference to five and a half games at 40-13.
The Raptors head into the break at 32-23, good for fifth in the conference.
