TORONTO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Toronto Raptors achieved a franchise-high 44 assists in a 142-113 victory over the Detroit Pistons during Sunday night's NBA game at Scotiabank Arena.

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam dominated with a game-high 23 points, while teammate Scottie Barnes contributed a well-rounded 17 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high nine assists.

The Raptors took an early lead, jumping out to a 32-20 first quarter and extending their lead to 24 by halftime. By the break, the team had already amassed 23 assists.

"When you play the way we did in the first half, it's such a natural way to go into the second half and stop moving the ball," Raptors Head Coach Darko Rajakovic remarked after the match. "I told the guys to not talk about after the game how we only had seven assists in the second half. They did a really good job over the course of the whole game moving the ball and finding each other."

In the third quarter, Siakam inflicted most of the damage with 15 points, increasing the lead to as high as 39 points.

The 44 assists surpass the previous franchise-record of 40, set on November 18, 2019, when Toronto faced off against Charlotte.

Before this game, Toronto was tied for fifth in the league in assists per game with 27.5, an improvement from last season when they ranked 23rd with 23.9 per game.

The Raptors have consistently delivered 25 or more assists in all but one game this season and in nine consecutive games since November 1st. This performance marks the second-longest active streak this season, behind Indiana with 11.