That poke to the eye early in the third quarter really didn’t do much damage to DeMar DeRozan’s ability to hit free throws.
The Toronto Raptors’ All-Star lived at the charity stripe against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, rewriting some (occasionally) difficult-to-watch franchise history in the process.
By the end of the third quarter, when DeRozan hit his normal period of rest, he had already set a career high with 21 free-throw attempts…and 21 makes, 10 of those coming in the quarter. That perfect 21-of-21 mark lifted him past “The Amityville Scorer” Mike James (18/18, April 4, 2016) for the highest total in a perfect night from the stripe and placed him just two shy of Dominique Wilkins’ 23-year-old league record of 23/23 (Dec. 8, 1992). (Dirk Nowitzki once went 24/24 in a playoff game, if playoff records count in your books.)
DeRozan’s own previous career highs were 17 free-throws and 19 attempts, which he had already cruised past in 29 minutes of action.
In the fourth, DeRozan stopped attacking as much, missing an elbow pull-up, driving for a dunk shortly after, and then failing to bait Mo Harkless with a pump-fake on a bad miss from the high block. Mason Plumlee then found a better way of guarding him than fouling: Letting him get a clear layup on a switch. DeRozan couldn’t get Damian Lillard to bite on a baseline fadeaway that missed, either.
Finally, with possession out of a timeout and a 114-112 lead with 8.3 seconds to go, the Raptors inbounded the ball to DeRozan, who was intentionally fouled. He hit both, breaking the franchise record for makes (22) previously shared by Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. He’d add one more on the next possession…and then missed the next, and he did so intentionally.
DeRozan explained after the game that teammate Kyle Lowry told him to miss, as the Blazers would have a more difficult time hitting a game-winning three off of a high rebound, if there was time at all, than a game-tying one out of a set play with 0.9 seconds left. Head coach Dwane Casey said he’s “not a proponent of that” but was fine with the decision either way.
“He wouldn’t have been wrong to miss it or make it. At that point they had no timeouts,” Casey said. “I don’t mind that one.
Lowry and DeRozan, however, were unaware that DeRozan would have held the NBA record for best perfect night at the stripe had he made it. “I’m blaming it on Kyle,” DeRozan said. Wilkins gets that record back, though DeRozan still owns the NBA record for most consecutive free throws made in a single game, per Raptors Media Relations. He fell two attempts shy of Carter’s record (27), but he sounded confident he’ll have another big night sometime in the future.
That those late freebies helped lock up a very narrow, very tense 117-115 victory despite 50 points from Damian Lillard, with his lone miss bouncing high enough to prevent a final Blazers’ possession, speak plenty about just how big his performance was.
By the end, his stat line kind of looked like a joke: 38 points (his third-highest total ever) on 7of-19 from the floor, with no threes, and a 24-of-25 mark at the line. It looks incorrect, and DeRozan had never before cracked 30 points when making seven or fewer field goals.
“I was just taking what they were giving me, honestly” DeRozan said. “I wasn’t trying to force anything. Every time I saw an angle, I was trying to take advantage of it.”
It was that kind of game all around. Sloppy, hand-checky, and without a great deal of good defense on either side. The result was an endless rotating of big men due to foul trouble, 65 total personal fouls called in the game, and 89 free-throw attempts being taken between the two sides (a franchise-record 43 makes and 54 attempts for Toronto). Both teams spent almost the entire game in the bonus, including nearly half of the first and fourth quarters.
DeRozan, by the way, also became the third player in franchise history to record 9,000 points with the team, joining Carter and Bosh. He’s also just the third player from his draft class, along with Steph Curry and James Harden, to reach that mark. And while we’re talking thirds, he ranks third in the NBA in free-throw attempts this season, behind only Harden and DeMarcus Cousins.
This game was all kinds of ugly-beautiful.
