DeRozan takes aim at more 3-pointers
There was no hesitation, and no cowing to history.
When DeMar DeRozan found himself alone at the 3-point line Saturday night against Toronto, a basket away from cracking the list of top 100 NBA scorers of all-time, the Spurs guard did not secondguess himself.
He let it fly.
After a lifetime of having coaches cajole him into taking more 3-pointers — only to keep his game anchored inside the arc — even DeRozan had to laugh about how his milestone basket came in a 119-114 victory over his former team.
“That’s really funny,” DeRozan said.
DeRozan’s second 3-pointer of Saturday night gave him 16,483 career points, moving him past Nate Archibald for 100th place on the NBA’s career list.
He eventually finished with 27 points, giving him 16,490 and counting heading into Sunday’s game in New Orleans.
DeRozan was 3 of 4 from the 3-point line against the Raptors, an interesting and welcome development after he made nine attempts from distance all of last season.
“I got frustrated when people made it seem like I couldn’t shoot 3s,” DeRozan said. “I just chose not to. Now I just try to mix it up with the flow of the game, understanding that it’s beneficial to
us at times for me to be in rhythm, just like it is a normal shot I would take.”
DeRozan did not get to be one of the top scorers in NBA history by flinging from the 3-point arc.
For much of DeRozan’s 11-plus NBA seasons — the first nine of which were spent in Toronto — he was one of the league’s premier scorers from 2-point range.
Despite a lack of 3-point attempts, DeRozan 22.1 points last season and hit a career-best 53.1 percent from the floor.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich — like Dwane Casey before him in Toronto — has impressed on DeRozan the need to be more of a 3-point threat this season.
“That’s part of his game
this year, to try and shoot more 3s,” Popovich said. “He’s feeling more confident, and it shows.”
It was not without irony that DeRozan finally unleashed what for him amounts to a 3-point barrage against the Raptors.
Three minutes after the 3-pointer that put him past Archibald on Saturday, DeRozan drained another one to kick-start a 9-0, game-ending run that put the Spurs over the top.
“I really try not to force things,” DeRozan said. “I just try to be aggressive. Whatever that is, if it’s me passing, getting to the rim, drawing fouls, catching it beyond the 3-point line and letting it go. My whole game is feel.”
Near the end of his tenure in Toronto, DeRozan appeared poised for a 3-point breakthrough.
He made 89 of 287 3point tries in his final season with the Raptors in 2017-18, setting career highs in both categories.
Those numbers took a nosedive again after he came to the Spurs in the July 2018 trade for Kawhi Leonard. DeRozan attempted only 80 3-point shots combined in his first two seasons in San Antonio, making 16 of them.
At last, the 31-year-old DeRozan appears committed to getting up more 3-pointers.
“I knew that as I got older in this league, that element of my game would continue to show more. It’s just that time.”
Murray joins triple-double club
Dejounte Murray recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Raptors, posting the first triple-double of his career.
The fifth-year point guard is hoping it is not the last.
“I feel like I can play like that every night,” Murray said.
It marked the first tripledouble for a Spurs player since DeRozan’s 21-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist effort — also against the Raptors — on Jan. 3, 2019.
In doing so, Murray became the fifth Spurs player to log a triple-double under Popovich. The rest of the list is filled with legends and All-Stars — Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and DeRozan.
“It’s nice, but at the end of the day I’m a team guy and I want to win,” Murray said. “I want to play better.”