Big night ahead for Dwane Casey’s Pistons

The sight of Dwane Casey coaching the opposition won’t be the only thing different about Wednesday night’s Raptors game at Scotiabank Arena.

At a time when the NBA is moving toward smaller lineups, the Pistons lean heavily on bigs Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond.

“They’re big and strong … Right now, you’re usually only seeing one (big) at a time,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “We’ve got to be ready for the physicality and their strengths. They’re going to guard, they’re going to play hard and they’re going to be physical. And we’ve got to be ready to at least match up.”

Last time out, the Raptors struggled in that area, losing 126-110 to Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.

“We just didn’t play physical,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. “We just let them do whatever they wanted. They got really comfortable … We just weren’t a physical enough team … (we have to) make it a little tougher on them.”

WIN ONE FOR CASEY: Detroit players are intent on making Casey’s return to Toronto, where the reigning coach of the year was turfed this past May, as sweet as possible.

“I would love nothing more, honestly,” Pistons guard Reggie Jackson told the Detroit News about the importance of a victory over the Raptors. “This one would be special if we could get a win for him. He’s not going to say anything about it and we probably won’t talk about it, but guys will have it in the back of their minds.”

Teammate Langston Galloway agreed: “It’d be huge. I know he really wanted that win. He won’t say it, but we need to get this win for him.”

As for Casey, he says he’s just happy to get the return out of the way early in the season.

“It’s always good to get it out of the way, the initial one, because after that they’ll be booing us the way they always do,” he told reporters in Detroit.

TERRIBLE TWOS: The Raptors’ second loss of the season still stung the day after.

Asked Tuesday about perhaps the best start to a season he’s ever had, Lowry quickly countered: “Did you watch last night?” Lowry still managed 11 badists, but went 1-for-9 from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range.

Jonas Valanciunas, questioned about the success of his job share at the five spot with Serge Ibaka, replied: “Yes, it feels good, except yesterday.” Valanciunas, like Lowry, managed just two points against the Pelicans.

Nurse’s message was simple: forget it, move on and get back to what has been working so well in a 12-2 start.

“That’s when you have to lean on your execution,” Nurse said.

Laura Armstrong is a sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy