The Toronto Raptors had an awful performance in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons, which gave old friend Dwane Casey the last laugh as his team escaped with a 106-104 victory.

Toronto controlled most of the game and looked poised to move to 13-2 on the season, leading 90-79 with 11:22 left. Then the turnovers began piling up, and the Pistons were draining all their shots.

Following an untimely out of bounds turnover by Kawhi Leonard with two seconds left, the Pistons finally put Toronto away when Reggie Bullock nailed a buzzer beater from in close. And a shocked Raptors team and crowd went home, wondering just how in the world they let this win slip away.

All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry was openly frustrated after the game, criticizing his teammates for lacking communication.

"I think just talking, man. Communication,"Lowry said after the game, via the Canadian Press (h/t TSN). "Open your mouth. We've gotta speak, we've gotta talk, you've gotta say something. Can't play if you can't say nothing."

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Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

It marked the first time this season where the Raptors have lost consecutive games, as they also fell short against the New Orleans Pelicans at home on Monday. But the Raptors were playing catch up for most of that game. Wednesday's contest was one that they simply gave away with too many turnovers.

"On the last possession you've gotta communicate," Lowry added. "We have to open our mouth and say 'switch.' We have to talk. Simple as that."

The Raptors will have another chance to figure out their team communication when they visit the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

What This Means

It was a frustrating loss for the Raptors, but it's an 82-game season. Teams lose games the deserve to win and vice versa. The Pistons are a good team, and coach Casey deserves credit for rallying his crew together for a big victory.

The Raptors are still unquestionably the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, and losses like this are going to happen sometimes. If the team communication gets better, then we'll look back on this as a moral loss for the Raptors.

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