AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Kyle Lowry sat in front of his locker with both knees wrapped in ice, another ice-encased bandage covering his lower right arm and his feet in a cold tub.

About the only thing that wasn't aching and sore was Lowry's spirit.

Lowry erupted for 27 points and 10 assists in his first game since the All-Star break, and the Toronto Raptors erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to down the Detroit Pistons 105-102 on Wednesday night at The Palace.

The All-Star point guard missed 21 games because of a right wrist injury that required surgery. Despite the layoff, Lowry played 42 minutes.

"I'm bleeping dead. I'm tired," he said. "But we won. That's all that matters."

Coach Dwane Casey planned to ease Lowry back into action. However, with his club trailing by as much as 20 points in the first half and playing catch-up most of the way, Casey felt compelled to keep Lowry in the game.

"I'm in trouble because I played him way too many minutes," Casey said. "Before I knew it, he was up to 35, 36 minutes. I wanted to keep his minutes down but we were searching for someone to come off the bench and give us something and we couldn't get that. We ended up in a dogfight at the end and overran his minutes. Luckily, we have tomorrow off but we have to be careful with his minutes."

Lowry didn't look worn out in the final quarter, as he drained all four of his field-goal attempts, dished out four assists and made a steal while playing all 12 minutes.

He wasn't concerned about getting contact on his surgically-repaired wrist.

"I wouldn't have played if I had any fear," he said. "That's one thing about me. If I'm going to come back, I'm going to come back and play basketball. I have no restrictions, no limitations. ... The game of basketball is fun for me. It's what I love to do."

Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points, Cory Joseph supplied 15 and DeMar DeRozan contributed 12 points and 10 assists despite 5-for-17 shooting from the field.

The Raptors (48-31) moved a half-game ahead of Washington for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Ish Smith and Tobias Harris had 16 points apiece for the Pistons, who lost 10 of their last 12. Marcus Morris added 15 points and Andre Drummond recorded 11 points and 14 rebounds for Detroit (35-43).

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson missed his fifth straight game because of fatigue issues. Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did not start the game due to a family matter but returned in time to start the second half and finished with two points.

"We had them at 68 points through three quarters and then I don't even remember getting a stop in the fourth quarter," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We were slow in our rotation. We defended pretty well for three quarters and then just awful defense in the fourth."

Toronto beat Detroit 87-75 at The Palace on March 17 by holding the Pistons to three points in the last nine minutes.

"This is the second time they've done this," Drummond said. "They got up in us, made it real tough for us, a lot of turnovers were caused, and they came down and scored pretty much every possession or got fouled."

The Raptors cut the Pistons' 10-point halftime lead in half early in the third. Detroit restored the double-digit advantage later in the quarter behind Smith and Aron Baynes, finishing it with a 15-8 spurt for an 80-68 lead.

Toronto began its big rally midway through the fourth. The Raptors used a 14-2 outburst, capped by a DeRozan layup, to tie it at 95.

Valanciunas' hook shot in the lane with 1:03 left gave the Raptors a 102-100 edge. Following a missed jumped by Smith, DeRozan hit a jumper for a four-point Raptors advantage.

The Pistons missed two potential game-tying 3-point shots in the closing seconds.

NOTES: The Pistons were playing their second-to-last regular-season game at The Palace, which opened in 1988. They will move to downtown Detroit next season in the new Little Caesars Arena. "It's a great tribute to (ex-owner) Bill Davidson and the foresight he had," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said of The Palace. "All the buildings that have come after have been influenced by this building." ... Toronto coach Dwane Casey accepted a public apology by Indiana's Lance Stephenson, who scored a meaningless basket during the closing seconds Tuesday that incensed the Raptors players. "It's a little bit late but we'll take it," Casey said. ... Detroit PG Ish Smith played his 400th career game. ... Toronto clinched a winning road record for the fourth consecutive season. ... The Raptors were 14-7 since the All-Star break without PG Kyle Lowry.