The Toronto Raptors have quietly ascended to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, and with just a quarter of the season remaining, are looking to secure home court advantage. The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, are fighting for the playoff lives. So when the two teams met in Motown on Wednesday night, you knew it would be a dogfight.
It was a back-and-forth affair all game long, and with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation, DeMar DeRozan, who finished the game with 42 points, six assists and four rebounds, decided to take matters into his own hands as the Raptors trailed by one.
After receiving the inbounds pass, the Raptors All-Star guard took the ball the length of the court, then proceeded to throw down an absolutely vicious two-handed jam on Anthony Tolliver, finishing the dunk through contact to pick up the and-one in the process.
That put Toronto up 114-112 with just under five seconds remaining, but the Pistons were able to get the ball into Blake Griffin deep in the post, where he put in a rather easy layup to send the game into overtime. But not before a sequence of bizarre, ill-fated inbound attempts from both teams that delayed the start of the extra period much longer than necessary and left everyone scratching their heads for a few minutes.
The Raptors eventually earned the win in overtime on the heels of a last second long two from Fred VanVleet in the corner off a DeRozan pass.
CLUTCH!
Fred VanVleet knocks down the corner jumper to seal it for the @Raptors!#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/XTKCXVjknm
— NBA (@NBA) March 8, 2018
The win clinched a playoff berth for Toronto, while pushing Detroit further away from the postseason as they continue to struggle in recent weeks.
