DeRozan paces OT thriller win
Statement wins in January are few and far between. This just might have been one of them. The Raptors and Bucks were locked in doozy until DeMar DeRozan, who opened the game with a 21- point first quarter finished it with 15 points in the final quarter and overtime to become just the third player in team history to reach 50 points in a game joining Terrence Ross and Vince Carter in that select group.
It was only fitting that DeRozan got to 52 with his 12th and 13th consecutive free throws of the game to salt this one away and set a new Raptors record for points scored in a single game.
DeRozan had five threes in the game, those 13 free throws not to mention eight assists and five rebounds in that franchise best ever 52 point game.
That it came against the Bucks made it only that much sweeter.
The previous time the Raptors and Bucks crossed paths was the first round of last year’s NBA playoffs, a series that many expected would be rather quick but turned out to be longer.
The Bucks extended the series to six before succumbing to the more experienced and playoff-tested Raptors.
Both teams have made changes in the interim, but the biggest might be the most recent with the Bucks adding guard Eric Bledsoe at the expense of Greg Monroe’s rather large presence in the paint.
Monroe will be missed but the Bucks no go with John Henson starting at centre and Thon Maker coming off the bench as opposed to Maker starting as he did in last year’s playoffs and Monroe coming off the bench.
Henson is super long, as all the Bucks not named Bledsoe or Jason Terry appear to be.
But Bledsoe fills a rather large gap in the Bucks arsenal.
“We have added speed,” head coach Jason Kidd said of the Bledsoe addition. “We didn’t have speed and we haven’t had speed when we played Toronto.”
For Dwane Casey the Bledsoe addition gives the Bucks another at- tacker, a much smaller one than the one that they are built around.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the primary attacker in Milwaukee and barring an injury will be for years to come but Bledsoe is the perfect complement.
“He’s one of the elite attackers in our league, he knows how to gamble off the ball and play passing lanes, he fits into their defensive mentality,” Casey said of Bledsoe clearly prepared for this very question. “His first mindset is to attack and get into your paint, which fits into them, too. It seems like he picks his spots in knocking down shots, and he’s very capable. But he’s one of the quickest guys off the dribble in the league, with the ball, with power, with force. So he’s another attacker along with Antetokounmpo.”
If the season ended today the Raptors would be in a first- round 2-7 matchup in the East against Miami. Just ahead of Miami in sixth right now are the Bucks. A rematch of last year’s first round is not out of the question.
COULD BE DIFFERENT STILL
The Bucks currently have forward Jabari Parker in what Kidd is calling the portion of his rehab as the “down the mountain” part following knee surgery last season. Parker is practising with the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ G- League entry and will be back long before the playoffs arrive barring any setbacks.
Parker gives the Bucks another scoring option but the question is will his return cost them defensively. But that’s a story for another day.
THE THREE POINT GAME
DeMar DeRozan has always said he will embrace the three-point shot when he feels he needs to embrace it.
Clearly the direction the league has taken with the emphasis on threes and the corresponding emphasis the Raptors have put on it have DeRozan deciding that time is now.
Over the past seven game he has taken 37 three- pointers and made 20 of them for a 54 per cent success rate. He was 5- for- 8 in last night’s game from three and looking comfortable from just about everywhere in from half court if need be.