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Raptors beat Pistons to keep playoff hopes alive

Updated: 2010-04-14 11:48

The Toronto Raptors put the team first against Detroit and the result improved their playoff chances.

Andrea Bargnani had 33 points, Amir Johnson scored a career-high 26, and Toronto beat the Pistons 111-97 on Monday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Raptors moved within a half-game of the Bulls for the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto, which closes the season Wednesday at home against New York, will earn a playoff berth if they end the season tied with Chicago, which finishes against the Celtics and at Charlotte.

"We just have to pray on Boston now to beat Chicago," Johnson said.

The Raptors had assists on 21 of their first 22 field goals, finished with a season-high 37 assists, and made 60 percent of their shots overall and on 3-pointers after an awful performance against Chicago on Sunday. "I know our defense wasn't all that great, but I give them a lot of credit," Detroit coach John Kuester said.

Toronto fell a game behind the Bulls with a 104-88 loss to them Sunday at home, hurting its chances of making the postseason for the third time in eight years.

"We had a lot of guys trying to do too much and going 1-on-1, so we stressed the importance of trusting your teammates and sharing the ball," Raptors coach Jay Triano said.

Charlie Villanueva guaranteed a victory against one of his former teams on his Twitter account Monday afternoon, then scored 16 points in the Pistons' home finale.

Villanueva created a stir last season when he sent a message on his Twitter account during halftime of a game while playing for Milwaukee.

Detroit - which has lost two straight after winning three in a row - fell to 26-55 in its worst performance since losing 62 games during the 1993-94 season.

去聽寫專區(qū)一展身手

（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Raptors beat Pistons to keep playoff hopes alive

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is fluent in Korean and has a 2-year-old son.