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TORONTO - After letting Dwane Caseys strong words marinate for roughly 48 hours, the Raptors took their coachs challenge to heart upon a return to home court Sunday evening. Despite a favourable final result in Fridays unimpressive win over the 76ers varsity squad in Philadelphia, Casey was irate with his teams effort, focus and sense of urgency, particularly right out of the gate. They had no such issue holding off a tougher opponent in the streaking Pistons two days later. This is the NBA and all of us are professionals, the Raptors coach said after his teams 114-110 victory over Detroit. Players know when they don’t give it to you or they’re not in tune or locked in and playing the game the right way. They know it. Every now and then you have to remind them but most of the time they know it. They’re smart people and you’ve been around us long enough to know they know it. I thought today they responded to the last game. The Raptors had fallen behind by 15 before scoring a point in Philadelphia but jumped out on the Pistons, leading by nine early, extending their advantage to five at the half and gaining some separation to begin the third quarter. Uncharacteristically, they had been held under 100 points in five straight games for the first time this season but on this night they looked like the team of old, the one that put up conference-best offensive numbers for most of the campaigns opening months. Thats how weve got to play, said DeMar DeRozan, who also enjoyed a bounce-back outing, scoring 25 points, more than double his total from the previous three games combined. When we play together like that and get everybody going were tough to beat. Thats how we played last year. DeRozan, playing in his seventh game back from injury, matched his highest scoring total since returning earlier this month. His 10 free-throw attempts were a pretty good indication that hes starting to feel like himself again - he had taken just three in three games previously. I almost forgot how I used to get to the free throw line, he joked. But it felt good. I just wanted to go out there and be aggressive. With a sporadic practice schedule since his return, DeRozan said he spent time in the gym the previous night to get some work in, hoping to get back in rhythm. Whether it was Caseys post-game rant from Friday or that accountability the coach referenced after Sundays win, DeRozan and his teammates - at least for one night - seemed fully committed to getting back on track. I call it coaching, Casey said, responding to a question about his perceived frustration a couple nights earlier. We get all upset, I get upset one time and everybody’s like ‘he’s frustrated, he lost his cool.’ No. That’s me every day, most of the time. Although the defence remains a concern, DeRozan shot 53 per cent from the field, attempted 29 free throws and eclipsed the 20-assist plateau - recording 23 - for the first time in five contests. Six Raptors scored in double figures, including Kyle Lowry - with 11 - who led the team with eight assists. Amir plays through pain With Amir Johnson listed as questionable, nursing a lingering shoulder injury, there was some speculation the Raptors may opt to sit him out for a night or two to get him some rest. Of course, it was no surprise to see Torontos iron man back at work on Sunday, in uniform and ready to play through pain, as per usual. He was fine, Casey said of Johnson, who had a solid outing, scoring 17 points and missing just two of his nine shots in 28 minutes of action. From my understanding it’s been there for a while and it was always going to be a situation where he could aggravate it at any time. He’s a walking wounded but Amir’s a warrior and he came in and gave us a great presence inside, 17 points and two big free throws there down the stretch. Johnsons shoulder has been bothering him for most of the season, already wearing a protective pad over it when it became increasingly sore in Fridays game. He was limited to just 16 minutes that night, coming off the bench to start the second half as Patrick Patterson took his place with the first unit. Life without Jennings After turning around their season with the surprising release of Josh Smith just before Christmas, the Pistons worst fears were confirmed ahead of Sundays game. Brandon Jennings, their starting point guard who crumpled to the court with a non-contact leg injury in Saturdays loss to Milwaukee, will miss the rest of the campaign due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. I know he was pretty down last night, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. The guy absolutely loves playing basketball, probably as much as anybody I have been around. He plays all summer. He loves being in the gym and on top of that he was having the best year of his career, particularly lately. The sixth-year guard had been at the head of Detroits resurgent, playing the best basketball of his career. Jennings was scoring an average of 19.8, more than a seven-point increase, since Smith was waived on Dec. 22, leading the Pistons to a 12-5 record after they started the season 5-23. It’s really tough, Van Gundy continued. It’s tough for us but it’s even tougher for him. I feel real bad for him because he was playing so well and to have it end when he was on such a run is really unfortunate. Its very unfortunate for a young man who was playing great, playing the right way, fitting into Coach Van Gundys system, Casey said. You hate to see any player go down like that, especially a guy thats turning his team around. Jennings was also the main culprit in Detroits 114-111 win in Toronto earlier this month, scoring 20 of his 34 in the final 24 minutes as the Pistons came back from a 12-point halftime deficit. The 25-year-old had the game-winning steal that night, knocking the ball away from Lowry in the dying seconds. Former Raptor D.J. Augustin, who was cut by Toronto after a brief and underwhelming stint early last season, will start in place of Jennings for the time being as Van Gundy and the Pistons seek additional help, looking to add a third point guard. At least for one night the transition was seamless. Augustin logged 37 minutes and poured in a career-best 35 points to go along with eight assists against his old club. Greg Maddux Jersey . 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Im coming home, Im coming home. NANCY, France -- Matteo Trentin of Italy won Fridays seventh stage of the Tour de France in a photo finish, after two top American hopefuls went down in the latest spills of a crash-marred edition this year. Fellow Italian Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall leaders yellow jersey. U.S. rider Tejay van Van Garderen, who crashed within the last 17 kilometres, was the big loser on the day -- with his fall costing him more than a minute in the title chase. The sun finally broke through clouds that had dumped rain over riders in recent days for the 234.5 kilometre (146 mile) ride from Epernay, the capital of Champagne country, to the eastern city of Nancy. It was the second-longest stage of the three-week race this year. Trentin, a cheery 24-year-old who won a stage in the Tour of Switzerland earlier this year, beat Slovakias Peter Sagan by what looked like no more than a centimetre or two on the finish-line photo of the final sprint. The finish was so close that the Tours Web site initially declared Sagan the winner. Trentin patted Sagan on the back after crossing the line. The Cannondale star, who took home the green jersey given to the Tours best overall sprinter for the last two years, has finished in the top-5 of every stage this year -- and second three times -- but has yet to win. Frances Tony Gallopin was third. "Honestly I didnt know that I won. I told Peter that he had beaten me on the line. Cycling is nice because anything can happen," said Trentin, who won a stage in Lyon in his first Tour last year. "Its a good thing that I won two times." Trentin dedicated the victory to his Omega Pharma Quick Step team and its star sprinter Mark Cavendish, who crashed out in Stage 1. BMC leader van Garderen was not the only American to have a bad day. Andrew Talansky fell in the final sprint, rolling over and scuffing up his left arm and ripping his jersey on his shoulder after getting bumped by Australias Simon Gerrans. But under course rules, Talansky, the Garmin-Sharp team leader, didnt lose time in the title chase because his crash happened within the last three kilometres. He yelled in frustration after crossing the line. "Hes ok ... its not something thats going to affect him much," Garmin-Sharp team Jonathan Vaughters said of Talansky on French TV. "I dont know if it was Gerrans fault, but hes angry. Thats 100-per cent sure." Overall, Nibali has a two-second lead over Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang and is two minutes, 37 seconds clear of two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador -- his main riival.dddddddddddd Talansky is seventh, 2 minutes, 5 seconds back. With about 16 kilometres left, a Movistar team rider bumped the back wheel of van Garderen as he moved to the right in the pack. They tumbled to the asphalt. Van Garderen got rolled over by another riders bike. The BMC leader got up and back to the race, but lost time to Nibali, even after several of his teammates pedaled furiously in front of him to keep him out of the wind, trying to help him catch up. He shrugged off the damage, putting it into the long-term perspective of a three-week race that ends in Paris on July 27. "Its a tough blow, but the Tour is long, the race changes," van Garderen said of the time loss, calling the crash "nothing major. So Ill definitely be fine to start tomorrow." More significant for the BMC leader in the long-term, however, may be the withdrawal of Colombias John Darwin Atapuma, a good climber whom the team was grooming to help van Garderen. The race medical report said Atapuma was taken to a hospital for treatment of a broken femur just above the knee. "This is definitely not a good day for the team," said van Garderen. "To lose him ... I really just hope hes ok, I hear he banged his knee pretty hard." Overall van Garderen trails 3 minutes, 14 behind Nibali, in 18th place, after starting the stage only 2:11 adrift. "There have really been a lot of crashes this year, in the final sprints," Nibali said. "We all knew that Sagan wanted a win today ... The end of the stage was very hard." The biggest crash casualty this year was defending champion Chris Froome, who dropped out of the race with an injured wrist in Stage 5. Also falling in the finish-line crash, Swiss rider Mathias Frank, the leader of the IAM Cycling team, was undergoing a medical scan at hospital for a severely injured hip, the race medical report said. In an earlier crash, Dutch rider Stef Clement dropped out of the race and was taken to hospital after a blow to the head. In a possible preview of race action to come, Contador led a small attack along a low-grade climb with about 6-kilometres left, but he couldnt shake Nibali. The Italian says he expects the Spanish two-time champ to attack in the mountains ahead starting this weekend, culminating with a tough uphill finish on Monday. A shakeout among title contenders could be ahead in Saturdays eighth stage, which winds through medium-height mountains along a 161-kilometre (100-mile) run from Tomblaine to Gerardmer-La Mauselaine ski resort. ' ' '