DeRozan’s return a big boost
TORONTO • Nothing like the return to health of a team’s leading scorer to bring back a semblance of normalcy to a franchise.
DeMar DeRozan, out for seven of the past eight games, five of those eight games including the one he returned for all losses, returned to the fold and immediately a lot of the Raptors’ problems went away.
It didn’t hurt any that the opponent for the night, the Los Angeles Clippers arrived with some heavy baggage of their own, but for the first time in weeks the Raptors began to look like the December Raps when winning was the norm.
DeRozan f i nished t he game with 31 points including two three pointers but his return wasn’t just a return of a polished scorer. His presence just seemed to settle everyone in the lineup as the Raps won this one rather handily, 118-109.
“On the court he’s almost like an anchor for us,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “It’s harder for teams to double up on Kyle (Lowry) when you have that other anchor out there.”
Lowry has been a rock shouldering the load without his backcourt mate and keeping the Raptors afloat in trying times with both DeRozan and for a good chunk of his absence, Patrick Patterson, out of the lineup.
But with DeRozan back Lowry looked more like his old self, not quite so frantic and not needing to be. Lowry had a special night himself hitting his third three of the night with 6: 33 gone in the second quarter to become the all- time leading three- point shooter in Raptors history.
Lowry would hit five for the night passing longtime fan favourite Morris Peterson for the franchise lead with now 806 in a Raptors uniform. He also did it substantially quicker getting to that point in 345 games. Peterson needed 542 games to get his 801.
DeRozan missed his first three shots from the field and then the first two from the line before he finally saw one go down, hitting two from the line just under five minutes into the game. He would hit six of his next eight including a three to hit the 20-point mark by halftime.
Casey was concerned before the game there would be a period of unfamiliarity as the team re- introduced the offence they play with DeRozan in the fold. In hindsight he was right, but the time it took for the Raptors to readapt was probably quicker than he could have hoped.
The Clippers arrived in town having lost five of their past seven and without their floor general Chris Paul. Paul is a huge part of the Clippers’ success, so much so that his injury combined with a less lengthy one sustained by Blake Griffin changed the entire mindset of the Clippers for the season.
With Paul out 6- 8 weeks with a ligament tear in his left thumb, head coach Doc Rivers admitted the goal of a top one or two seed pretty much ended the day Paul was diagnosed.
The focus for the Clippers now is to get healthy and be playing their best basketball when the playoffs arrive.
They are certainly not the same team without Paul.
Jonas Valanciunas, who has been up and down of late, had a decisive game for Toronto hitting for 21 and 11 rebounds.
The win completed a back-to-back, both wins over Brooklyn and the Clippers which means the Raps will have a day off before taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday in Minneapolis.