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The Toronto Raptors had everything going for them on Sunday afternoon in Detroit and still couldn't come up with the victory.

Playing against the Pistons' bench down the stretch, and in front of a crowd that seemed more worried about what was going on at golf's Masters tournament, the Raps blew a chance to move solidly into sixth place in the NBA's Eastern Conference, losing 91-84.

Rodney Stuckey (3) and the rest of the Detroit Pistons' bench outscored Jose Calderon (8) and the Toronto Raptors' reserves 48-18 on Sunday.\
(D. Lippitt/Einstein/Getty Images)

"C.B. was great and Rasho was solid, but we didn't get much from the rest of the team," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said after the game. "They are just a great defensive team — they took away a lot of the things that we wanted to do."

With the loss, Toronto stands tied with Philadelphia for sixth, both clubs at 40-40. Washington was at 42-38 in fifth.

All three teams will finish the season with games on Monday and Wednesday. The Raptors are home to Miami and away to the Chicago Bulls, while the Sixers host Cleveland and go to Charlotte, and Washington plays Indiana in D.C. and closes out with Miami.

Finishing sixth would give Toronto an opening-round series with the Orlando Magic, a club they match up well with.

But seventh would put them up against the Pistons, a club they cannot beat on the road, having now lost 10 straight in the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Guard Rodney Stuckey had 18 points to lead the way for the seven Detroit bench players who all saw significant action, including for most of the fourth quarter. Jason Maxiell had 14, matching Chauncey Billups, who only put in about 25 minutes before shutting it down.

"I'm just attacking, and I feel that nobody can stop my drive," Stuckey said. "I love contact, so I'm going at the big guys, no matter who it is. It's all about being aggressive."

Overall, the non-starters contributed 48 points for the Pistons, who are in second place and had nothing but pride and muscle memory to play for.

"Our bench was great again," coach Flip Saunders said. "Not just offensively, but with the energy they bring defensively. They get how we want to play against teams."

Chris Bosh led Toronto with 30 points and 10 rebounds in more than 43 minutes, but that effort didn’t seem to inspire the rest of his club to something higher. Rasho Nesterovic tossed in 18 and added seven rebounds and T.J. Ford had 10 points and eight assists.

Then there was forward Jamario Moon, who was terrible in 18 minutes before coach Sam Mitchell gave up on him for the day. The rookie was 1-for-7 from the floor, including a bad miss on a dunk.

Andrea Bargnani was 1-for-6, Carlos Delfino went 2-for-7 and Jose Calderon could only find four points and four assists in 24 minutes.

Bosh opens strong

Bosh had an excellent first half, hitting for 17 points and adding five rebounds as the Raptors went to the dressing room down 50-45.

That was despite some meagre defence. Toronto let Detroit shoot better than 50 per cent from the field in the opening 24 minutes and the Pistons did that while using all 12 players in uniform. Toronto was also out-rebounded 23-13.

Richard Hamilton also ripped the Raptors for 10 points in the opening 24 minutes with Billups adding five points and three assists and Tayshaun Prince popping seven.

"There aren't many teams that can bring in a group like that," said Bosh of the bench. "Those five guys could start for a lot of teams in this league."

Toronto was down 65-63 after three quarters and seemed in great shape, especially when Detroit sent the starting five to the bench for good.

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