DeRozan on high alert when LeBron lurks
Raptors more likely to win when their top scorer uses his teammates wisely
He did it quietly because that’s generally how he does it: DeMar DeRozan, piling up points and key baskets and making key plays without much fanfare.
The Toronto Raptors guard had the best playoff series of his career in a first-round win over the Milwaukee Bucks and if there is to be a monumental upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers coming, he has to reprise that role in the series that begins Monday night.
DeRozan capped the Bucks series with a 32-point, five-steal gem, setting a Raptors single-game playoff record for steals. DeRozan and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard are the only two players to post 30-point, fivesteal games in this year’s playoffs.
DeRozan averaged 23.5 points per game against the Bucks on 48.4 per cent efficiency on two-point field goals while also shooting 92 per cent from the free throw line. His 1.32 points per possession on isolation plays was the best in the league among players who had more than 20 attempts in the first round.
It was typically efficient scoring from the 27-year-old, eight-year NBA veteran.
But as important as DeRozan’s scoring is and has been, his ability and willingness to get rid of the ball has given the Raptors offence muchneeded variety.
Facing all kinds of different defences thrown at him by the Bucks — aggressive double-teams, passive double-teams, blitzes and multiple defenders — DeRozan dished out three assists per game.
He may not see exactly the same kind of defence from Cleveland but coach Dwane Casey figures there will be some tricks.
“I expect them to do it at some point,” Casey said Sunday of Cleveland trapping ball-handlers. “And with ferocity if that’s the word you want to use; I use the words physicality, toughness.
“They are very capable of doing that.”
DeRozan’s trust in his teammates shone through in the Bucks series and was vital to Toronto’s win as he averaged 4.2 assists per game in each of the four Raptors victories.
“I try to make the right play every time down,” DeRozan said during the Bucks series. “It’s on me not to force anything but just to make the right play. I don’t care if my teammates miss 50 shots in a row, I’m going to make the same exact play like they made ten in a row.”
His awareness will be vital against the Cavaliers, who often use LeBron James as something of a defensive rover, hiding on the weak side or in the paint to pick off passes or lend some assistance on drives. It’s similar to what DeRozan saw from Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo but more varied.
“Giannis has the length, it seemed like if he were standing in the middle of the paint he would be touching sideline to sideline,” DeRozan said. “The thing about LeBron is something may look open and he’ll come out of nowhere for a steal.
“Giannis you knew he was there so you just had to make that right pass. With LeBron it’s going to be a matter of understanding that a passing lane may look good and he can come out of nowhere and get a deflection or a steal or anything.”
Getting rid of the ball, and avoiding James’s ability to pounce on lazy or ill-advised passes will once again a key for the Raptors.
“We’re expecting ball movement will be huge,” Casey said. “Whether it’s getting to the weak side early or in transition, getting it down the floor and getting around (to) the weak side early, we’ve got to have ball movement against this team.”