TORONTO — Dwane Casey appreciates the love he receives from the Toronto Raptors fan base.
But on his first visit north of the border as Detroit Pistons coach since he was fired by the Raptors, Casey was more interested in victory.
And the team came through.
Reggie Bullock’s running lay-up off an inbounds play as time expired was the winning basket in the Pistons’ 106-104 victory Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
The winning possession was set up when Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard turned it over with two seconds left.
Casey called timeout and designed a nice play with Jose Calderon lobbing a pass to Glenn Robinson III near the basket, bur Pascal Siakam swatted the shot out of bounds along the baseline.
But there were still 1.2 seconds left and Calderon found a cutting Bullock for the winner.
Bullock was mobbed by ecstatic teammates, and Casey was victorious in an emotional return to the city he spent seven seasons.
Blake Griffin led the Pistons with 30 points on 13-for-22 shooting as the Pistons overcame a 19-point deficit in the second half.
Langston Galloway scored 13 points and Stanley Johnson was great in defending Leonard. Johnson also scored 12 points, which included two corner 3-pointers during the Pistons’ closing run.
Leonard scored 26 points and Siakam added 17.
Griffin kept the Pistons (7-6) close with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting by halftime.
The Raptors, who lead the Eastern Conference, fall to 12-3.
Casey received a nice ovation during pregame introductions, but the most heartfelt applause came during a video montage on the Jumbotron at the first timeout.
As images of his Raptors tenure were shown, the ovation grew louder.
Casey waved to the crowd in acknowledgement after the montage conclusion.
