Lowry ‘pissed’ about loss, DeRozan icing hand, and other post-game notes | Raptors Republic
The Toronto Raptors just lost the ugliest NBA playoff game since…well, since at least Saturday. This series is just atrocious aesthetically, but at least it’s close, I suppose? I really don’t know. Games and series like these, played on the fringes of what can be considered acceptable basketball, are “fun” in the sense that they’re close and interesting in a voyeuristic way, but it’s really tough to be close to it.
But hey, the Raptors took home-court advantage back and will head home to Toronto with the series at 2-2 on Wednesday.
Game 4 Post-Game Podcast: Casey and DeRozan Cost Game | Raptors Republic
A gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, vomit-inducing, rage-inciting loss in Game 4 is squarely pinned on Dwane Casey’s pee wee league coaching and DeMar DeRozan continuing to choke hard.
Dwane Casey made all the wrong moves in Game 4 (and it cost them the game) | The Defeated
Hindsight is 20/20, and if Casey were to have a mulligan, he’d probably take it on his pivotal decision to bench Biyombo in favor of DeRozan in overtime.
The calculus was this: Since Lowry had fouled out, the Raptors theoretically needed a shot creator in the game. Even with his struggles, DeRozan fit that bill. Conversely, Biyombo would have cramped what little spacing the Raptors had (although he could at least grab an offensive rebound.)
Casey picked DeRozan. It went horribly.
This is how it played out: Miami took five shots in the restricted area in overtime. They made three shots and grabbed two offensive rebounds. They could have used some rebounding and rim protection.
Meanwhile DeRozan looked utterly defeated. He had no confidence — especially since he sat for most of the fourth quarter as he watched his teammates build up a lead. He provided nothing on offense— save for a layup at the very end — while the Raptors sorely missed Biyombo’s defense.
Again, the decision obviously looks much worse in retrospect. But even in the moment, from as early as the last minute of overtime, benching Biyombo seemed like a horrendous decision. But even after multiple failed gambles down the stretch, even though DeRozan looked like a lifeless corpse for most of the game, Casey stuck with his guns, and it backfired.
The Raptors’ offence rests again: Arthur | Toronto Star
But with a chance to take a 3-1 series lead the Raptors blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead, and Lowry fouled out, and DeRozan was just a disaster. By the time overtime rolled around Lowry had fouled out, and the game was absurdist theatre: a Raptors five-second violation, Patrick Patterson tipping in a Heat miss, DeRozan losing the ball on a drive, DeMarre Carroll falling over on a drive, a ball getting stuck on the back of the rim. The ball was a metaphor, maybe.
In the end Toronto’s offence was just gone, and they had so few options left. Lowry’s jumper abandoned him again, and he went 2-for-11 before fouling out; DeRozan’s right thumb is clearly a problem, and he finished 4-for-17, and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. Still, with DeRozan on the bench from the 3:08 mark of the third quarter until Lowry committed his sixth foul with 1:58 left, the Raptors built a nine-point lead, watched it shrink, and saw it finally vanish with 12.6 seconds left on a Dwyane Wade drive. They got a messy fallaway game-winner from Cory Joseph at the buzzer that didn’t come close. The Heat rolled at the very end of OT, and won 94-87. Miami shot 1-for-15 from three-point range for the game, and won.
“I don’t think there was any doubt this game was going to go into overtime. It’s just a heck of a series,” said Heat coach Eric Spoelstra. “The series is complex, it’s changing fast, and at times teams are able to get to their game, and a lot of the time they’re not. And that’s because of the competition, and the margin of error is so small. And you just have to find a way to make more plays at the end.”
“When our two top players don’t shoot the ball as well, we had some tough turnovers down the stretch, yeah, I felt like we let it slip away,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.
Lowry takes blame for Raptors’ Game 4 loss to Heat | Toronto Sun
A game after Kyle Lowry appeared to find his shot and break out of his funk he was right back in there shooting just 2-for-11 in 32:23 before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
His absence in overtime was palpable, primarily because it forced Dwane Casey to go back to the other Raptors scorer who isn’t scoring these days in DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan’s role in this game ended at the end of the third quarter for all intents and purposes and would have stayed that way had Lowry not fouled out.
Like he did early in the Indiana series, Casey determined he had gone as far as he could with DeRozan and was looking elsewhere.
The entire game was a struggle for DeRozan, who has been getting treatment on the thumb of his right hand and it’s clearly affecting him.
From the field for the game DeRozan was just 4-for-17 and only 1-of-4 from the line, which is the biggest tell of all about how much that thumb is affecting him right now.
Exacerbating those struggles on the Toronto side is the fact that Dwyane Wade has clearly picked this point in his career to turn back the clock and is thriving like few players can.
Raptors drop ugly Game 4 as Heat even series | Toronto Star
“I don’t think there’s any doubt this game was going to overtime,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This series is complex, it’s changing fast.”
“At times the teams are able to get too their games, most of the time they’re not.”
As expected, the absence of starting centres Jonas Valanciunas of Toronto and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside created an abundance of small-ball lineups and groups entirely unaccustomed to playing together.
Toronto started Bismack Biyombo, as expected, but trotted out Lucas Nogeuira for his first NBA playoff appearance, a 7 ½ minute run in the first half in which he had two points and four rebounds.
The Heat started Amar’e Stoudemire in Whiteside’s spot and used Josh McRoberts as his primary backup but had Luol Deng at centre down the stretch.
“The series is changing, it’s so competitive,” Spoelstra said. “You’re trying to do whatever to have some kind of advantage.”
But the Raptors also used a wide variety of lineups around whatever centre was in the game, mixing and matching DeRozan, Lowry, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson, Norman Powell, trying in equal parts to scramble the game and find some consistent offence.
Raptors cough up lead, fall to Heat in hideous basketball game | Toronto Sun
Backup point guard Cory Joseph also was aggressive and hit double figures for the sixth time in the playoffs, the most by any reserve in the NBA and Terrence Ross hit a number of key shots, providing a badly needed outside threat in another good performance for a player that had struggled mightily in past playoff appearances.
But Lowry, though competing hard and impacted the game in other ways with his shot once again way off, faltered down the stretch. DeRozan was removed for most of the fourth — with Toronto playing well for much of that time — and only returned after Lowry was fouled out of the game in dramatic fashion, called for hooking a defender for the ultra-rare all-star is banished on an offensive foul call. Lowry was irate on the bench, but avoided a technical foul.
Late in the fourth, Joseph made a tough long two-point basket, but Joe Johnson answered after being fouled. After another Toronto miss, Dwyane Wade, once again probably the best player on the floor, hit a layup, soaring in with a right-handed finish to tie the game and give the Raptors the ball back with 12 seconds remaining.
Joseph walked the ball up, took a contested shot that was way off and it was overtime once again. Toronto’s only play in those situations appears to be give somebody the ball on his own and pray.
That was actually both teams’ offences for most of the night.
Cleveland must be licking its chops in anticipation of a series against either of these clubs. Still there has been little separating Miami and Toronto.
Raptors squander opportunity in another slugfest with Heat | Sportsnet.ca
At this point no one is expecting to come out unscathed or with pretty statistical lines or without their confidence and will being tested.
One way or the other they have to win four games before the Miami Heat do. Do that and they will have the honour of facing a Cleveland Cavaliers team in the Eastern Conference Final that’s home and rested and must be dreading the prospect of the East’s backwards neighbours crashing their cocktail party, arriving with shredded clothes, claw marks and a nasty disposition.
Regardless of who wins – Miami, Toronto, at this point it’s a complete toss-up – they’ll be the ones who show up looking like the type to start and win the fight at the family barbecue.
“This is playoff basketball at its best,” said Heat star Dwyane Wade, who was first to line up for the Canadian anthem before the game, apologized for failing to do so prior to Game 3 and in between was his vintage, Hall-of-Fame self.
“The Toronto Raptors are a very good team. They fight, they’re gritty. This team that we have, we have developed that throughout this season, where we’ve been knocked down and had to continue to get back up and that’s what we continue to do.”
It’s becoming more evident that this series will go to that last team standing, and very likely after seven games.
Five moments that mattered in Game 4 of the Raptors-Heat series | Toronto Star
Life after J.V.
With Jonas Valanciunas out for the series with a sprained ankle, and Miami centre Hassan Whiteside sitting out Game 4 with a MCL injury that will likely shelf him through more games, the series took on a new, small-ball complexion. The Raptors got a big game out of Bismack Biyombo (13 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks)and might have to lean on him for as close to 48 minutes as they can. They looked to Lucas Nogueira for bursts at centre, but the 23-year-old was out of his league, as inexperienced as he is at this time of year. After playing as well as he did, Biyombo sat out the entirety of overtime.
Raptors will look back at Game 4 as a huge missed opportunity | Toronto Sun
It might have been DeRozan. It might have been coach Dwane Casey. Whoever was making the call — DeRozan’s messed-up thumb and erratic shooting — from the floor and the free-throw line, put the Raptors behind in a sloppy first half for both teams with Miami leading 44-35 in the first 24 minutes.
But DeRozan was the most active Raptor and maybe the least effective. He kept on shooting and shooting and shooting — when it was clear his thumb was hampering him and Casey didn’t seem willing to make an adjustments when he was on the court.
DeRozan was 2-for-12 from the floor and just 1 for three from the line while Lowry, coming off his best playoff game ever, was just another guy — needing 17:33 to make his first basket.
At the end of three quarters, the Raptors apparent stars were 4-for-21 shooting. They ended up 6-for-28, 21.4%. Six baskets in five quarters. That’s embarrassing.
By the end of three quarters, DeRozan and Lowry had made all of four baskets. The fact the game was close, Raptors leading by two, was rather remarkable. Toronto outscored Miami 27-16 in the third. Miami scored 25 in the first quarter, 19 in the second, 16 in the third.
With DeRozan and Lowry having rather dreadful nights, Cory Joseph coming off the bench did not. Almost halfway through the fourth quarter, Joseph had more field goals than Lowry and DeRozan combined.
Dwyane Wade outscored DeRozan and Lowry 30-17 through four quarters of play.
Raptors’ Dwane Casey needs to get creative in Game 5 | Toronto Sun
“They took something away,” said Casey, the disconsolate coach. “It wasn’t supposed to be Cory like that.”
It was supposed to be a Raptors win. Earlier. Not in the final seconds. Not the way it turned out. It was all there for Toronto on a near-terrible night for NBA basketball. A 3-1 lead in the series. A chance to go home and move on to the Eastern Conference final. All there and then it wasn’t. Poof. Just like that.
“I feel we let it slip away,” said Casey, who will watch this tape, then watch it again, and not believe how little he got from DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, the partially hurt, mostly unproductive apparent stars of the Raptors and how close this game was until the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
This was the third overtime game in the series. The second one that had no business going to overtime. Miami won a game it should have won in four quarters. Last night, Miami won a game it was fortunate to be part of — the Raptors had a nine-point lead with just over six minutes to go. The Heat outscored Toronto 15-6 to end the fourth quarter, and then 8-4 in overtime — 23-10 to end the game.
Lowry fouled out. Jonas Valanciunas didn’t play. DeRozan was benched because he couldn’t shoot again, his thumb playing a part in the state of the Raptors. The Raptors bench outscored the Miami bench 35-19: It was one of the few things the Raptors could take some pride in.
Raptors, Heat benefitting from D-League talent in playoffs | Toronto Star
“I knew I was going to have to prove myself, I knew that my work ethic and my determination of proving people wrong, getting in the gym and working and working was going to give me the opportunity that I wanted,” Powell said earlier in the playoffs.
“I didn’t know when it was going to happen, but I knew it was going to happen. Once you put that in your mind, nothing’s going to stop you, nothing’s going to deter you until you get to where you want to be.”
The same could be said for Richardson, who has become one of the few consistent backups on a thin Miami bench. An NBA assistant coach said before the series Richardson was one of the wild cards for the Heat because of his shooting ability. He’s averaged seven points but also 28 minutes a night in the post-season, taking a bit of the load off an over-worked Miami backcourt of Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade.
It got to the point in Saturday’s Game 3 that Miami coach Erik Spoelstra went to Richardson down the stretch of a nip-and-tuck game because he was more disruptive defensively against a small Toronto lineup and because Richardson presents a legitimate three-point threat
The four-year collegian led the NBA in three-point shooting after the all-star break, making them at a 53.3 per cent clip.
But most of all, Powell and Richardson represent the kinds of gems good teams find seemingly out of nowhere.
Game Rap: Raptors 87, Heat 94 (OT) | Toronto Raptors
AND…ANOTHER OVERTIME
The Raptors managed to stay in front for much of the fourth, leading by seven with 4:18 remaining. A three-point play by Dwyane Wade and a pair of free throws from Joe Johnson got the Heat got within two with less than two minutes to go. Kyle Lowry was whistled for an offensive foul that was also his sixth, sending him to the bench for the rest of the game. Toronto had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but couldn’t score and the game went into overtime for the third time in the series. With Lowry off the floor, the Heat outscored Toronto 15-6 to close out regulation and overtime.
Raptors deservedly lose 94-87. Series tied 2-2 | Raptors HQ
The final quarter was a tale of two quarters on its own. It began promisingly enough, with Lowry’s playmaking and Terrence Ross’ shooting providing a lift as the Raptors stretched the lead out to nearly double digits. Notably, DeRozan sat out almost the entire quarter for the second time in the playoffs. The defence had been putting the clamps on the Heat all game, and Biyombo’s rim protection had been bothering the Heat’s midrange barrage. It all seemed comfortable until the Raptors offence disappeared again.
By the time Lowry fouled out with under 2 minutes left in the game, the Raptor lead was down to two. Enter some Wade heroics to tie the game up at 83 and a missed Cory Joseph jumper at the buzzer, and even the most optimistic Raptors fan would’ve had low hopes for the overtime period. In overtime, the Raptors struggled to create offence with DeRozan on the floor, and the Heat on the other hand did just enough through Wade and Joe Johnson to see this one out 94-87.
Dwyane Wade puts doubters to rest with superhuman Game 4 effort | Miami Herald
“Yeah, no doubt,” Wade said. “No doubt. I’m as confident as I’ve been all season right now. I’m like you guys, I don’t know. I haven’t been in this situation a lot. I haven’t played a seven-game first round since my rookie year.”
Well, he did, but the Heat lost in seven games to Atlanta, so there was no second round.
“I haven’t played three overtimes in the second round in a long time,” Wade said.
Actually, the Heat never has. Only three series in NBA history have had this many. Miami’s maximum was two, against Boston in 2012.
“All of this is new,” Wade said. “Every other day we’re playing, and it’s very taxing. And I love that every time I come out on the court, I feel just as good as I did the last game. It allows me to go out there and play the game that I love the way that I can. I’m enjoying it. I’m having fun. At this time of the year, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”
At times, Monday, he appeared to be doing it alone. Prior to leaving late in the third quarter — for a rest that proved a minute too long — Wade had scored 48 of the Heat’s previous 103 points in the series, output exceeding even what he produced during his transcendent 2006 NBA Finals appearance and even his attempts as a one-man band in the 2009 and 2010 playoffs.
When he returned, a two-point deficit (54-52) had become five (72-67), and then it was nine. Then it was seven. Then five. Finally, on his defiant, explosive drive to the rim, and finish with 12.6 seconds left, it was none.
“(Chris Bosh) kept coming up to me, and he kept saying, ‘If we’re going to go out, I want to go out with you having the ball,” Wade said. “He kept telling me to be aggressive. I was trying to read how the defense was playing me. They mixed it up pretty good, so it’s not as easy as you think.”
Hyde: Wade’s magic saves another Heat night | Sun Sentinel
“I’m shocked, at this point, we haven’t been able to score 100 points,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of these four games.
This series is full of surprises. With just under five minutes left and down seven points, Spoelstra moved 6-9 Luol Deng to center. That was the final, strategic move in this night without real centers.
There was more oddity to come. Wade scooped up an overtime shot that bounced off the front of the rim, landed on the back rim and stopped there. Just stopped. Time was called. So Deng jumped ball against 6-9 Patrick Peterson with 59.8 seconds left.
“This series is changing, and it will change some more,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll have to see what happens from here.”
The game’s first shot Monday set the tone. Toronto’s Kyle Lowry threw up an air ball. It didn’t get much prettier than that. In fact, for symmetry, Deng started the second half with another air ball. Get Monday’s picture?
RECAP: Wade propels Heat to overtime victory in Game 4 against Raptors | Hot Hot Hoops
Erik Spoelstra should be praised as well. Cory Joseph became a problem for Miami, but Spo eventually figured it out. Instead of having Goran Dragic (15 points) guard him, he moved Winslow on his down the stretch. This made a switch easier and more likely for the defense and then allowed the Heat to play better. It worked.
Spo also played small ball with a lineup of Dragic-Wade-Johnson-Winslow-Deng down the stretch and in overtime. Without the big men, and Bismack Biyombo out of the game, there was no rim deterrance. The Heat clearly made a strategy change late and attacked the rim, especially since they went 1-15 from three as a team.
5 notes from Miami Heat’s Game 4 win vs Toronto Raptors | All U Can Heat
Body movin’
The Heat still finished with just 15 assists and were certainly isolation heavy at times, but the ball movement in general was noticeably improved.
The Heat put the ball in McRoberts’ hands early and often, allowing guys to move around him and allow him to facilitate. Deng was active cutting off the ball, as was Winslow. Johnson and Wade were more willing to pass out of the mid-post than to call their own number early in the shot clock.
Miami’s offense was ugly at times–in fact, mostly, it was ugly–but there was an effort to improve things. Hopefully the trend continues and they can build on it as they head to Toronto for Game 5.
Five Stars: Heat 94, Raptors 87, OT | Hot Hot Hoops
Second Star
Bismack Biyombo (TOR) 17.5
Biyombo played 31:12 starting at center for the Raptors, and scored 13 points on four-of-six shooting. He made most of his money for Toronto on the boards, where he collected a game-high 13 rebounds (one-third of Toronto’s rebounding total for the night). He was the only Raptor to block a shot, rejecting two, and added an assist, a steal, and a team-high plus-11 rating.
LEDGIE! pic.twitter.com/VuXaBE8kLe
— The Starters (@TheStarters) May 10, 2016
Dwyane Wade rises to occasion in Game 4 as Heat top Raptors in OT, even series | Miami Herald
“It was great,” Wade said. “I was tired. I was pushing through and I was using myself as a decoy. All eyes were on me and I wasn’t going to force anything at that time.
“A lot of my screens were with Joe [Johnson] at the end. Joe either went [to the basket] or he gave it to Goran [Dragic]. I was pumping confidence into those guys to continue to be aggressive because I knew all eyes would be on me at that time. Goran made a big, big basket. Luol [Deng] drove it to the hole. Justise [Winslow] had a big rebound. Joe had two big blocks. Everybody in the ball game made it happen. That’s how you want it done.”
The Heat, minus center Hassan Whiteside, didn’t use any of its reserve centers in overtime. Deng, the team’s undersized power forward, jumped for the opening tip.
Winslow, who didn’t play at all in Game 3, made some of the biggest plays. His tip-in on a Johnson miss was the first basket of the extra period.
Then, it was Johnson, who still hasn’t hit a three-pointer in this series (0-for-13), who drove to the basket and hit a floater. He finished with 15 points and those two early blocks Wade mentioned.
And then it was Dragic, who also finished with 15 points and six rebounds and four assists. He drove to the basket, drew a foul and made a layup with 22.7 seconds left that finally provided extra breathing room. Then, Wade finished it off with his steal and dunk.
Game 4 point differential flow; heartbreak in OT #wethenorth #rtz
A photo posted by Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) on
Heat, Wade work OT to a 94-87 win and 2-2 series tie vs. Raptors | Sun Sentinel
Wade again was the Heat’s all-or-nothing solution.
“When I had my opportunities, I tried to do my part.” Wade said.
And he did, with 30 points.
The Raptors’ guards didn’t, with shooting guard DeMar DeRozan 4 of 17 from the field as he deals with a sore shooting thumb and with point guard Kyle Lowry 2 of 11 before fouling out late in regulation. That left Toronto with precious little while playing in the series-ending injury absence of center Jonas Valanciunas, who badly sprained his right ankle in the Raptors’ Game 3 victory Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“They came out and forced their will on us at the end of the game,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “I felt like we let it slip away.”
At the finish there was enough in support of Wade to push the Heat over the top, but this was mostly his moment.
“We tried to send help to him,” Casey said, with the Raptors loading up defensively against Wade.
It was a wild finish in the extra period, with key plays in support of Wade by Winslow, Joe Johnson, Goran Dragic and Luol Deng.
HQ Overtime Post-Game Show: Let’s talk about this horrid mess we’re in | Raptors HQ
Perhaps one of the strangest, ugliest postseason games in NBA history has concluded, with the Heat beating the Raptors in overtime, 94-87, to tie the series at two. I’m joined by Sean Woodley to discuss just how awful it was, the unplayability (is that a word?) of DeMar DeRozan, the small vs. big question, and the Bebe experiment.
Lowry’s face when Biyombo put Stoudemire on a poster #nasty #wethenorth #rtz
A photo posted by Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) on
Kelly: Raptors’ big guns continue to misfire in ugly loss to Heat | The Globe and Mail
If anyone else had showed up, it would’ve really amounted to something. But at the half, the familiar problem: All the guys who should be scoring weren’t.
Though facing a team denuded of all talent in the middle, the Raptors decided to stand at the perimeter and shoot. Then they couldn’t make shots.
DeRozan was deep into another one of his horror shows. He started the game with an airball. He missed an open lay-up. He missed free throws. He was a timid presence. DeRozan is suffering from a thumb injury on his shooting hand, but this doesn’t explain why he continues to make terrible decisions.
Lowry was having the same issues. You’d hoped after a remarkable second half in Game 3 that he’d put aside whatever doubts are ailing him. They were back in force for much of the night. He may be off-setting that lack with his toughness, but if so, only just.
At the half, Toronto trailed 44-35 in a game they could easily have been winning.
That trend would emerge in the third quarter as Miami assumed the role of pratfallers, while Toronto switched to straight man.
If you had the experience of switching over to the Golden State-Portland game, you’d be hard-pressed to explain how those teams are playing the same sport.
DeMar DeRozan’s struggles again in Game 4 Toronto Raptors loss to Heat | ESPN
“I mean, it’s the feeling of being uncomfortable and not doing the things that you normally do with gripping the ball and everything,” said DeRozan, who finished with nine points on 4-for-17 shooting and went 1-for-4 from the free throw line. “It’s nothing I’ll ever make an excuse about, but like I said, I know for sure I’m not going to shoot like I did tonight [in our] next game. I know that for a fact. It’s just something I’m going to have to deal with and push through.”
Since Game 1, DeRozan is shooting 32.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from the free throw line in the series. During the regular season, he shot 44.6 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line.
DeRozan has been wrapping his hand in ice after games and wearing a blue compression glove over it.
It doesn’t seem to have helped.
Toronto Raptors collapse down the stretch, blow game 4 in Miami | Raptors Cage
Offense: F
The offense to be frank, sucked. Coach Dwane Casey was thoroughly out-coached this evening, with every basket coming luckily from individuals stepping up at different times. Terrence Ross, DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph stepped up offensively, making big plays down the stretch. However, Casey put his team in a hole by over-utilizing DeRozan in isolations; he did acknowledge the fact post-game that his stars struggled, yet he still continued to ride and die with them.
DeMar DeRozan, on the other hand, was garbage tonight. Ineffective the entire game, yet continued to shoot, continued to handle the ball — lose the ball — and miss free-throws. Disregard the thumb – he’s been terrible all playoffs. The body language illustrated his lack of offensive toughness.
Picking an MVP for Each NBA Playoff Team Using Analytics | numberFire
The 2016 NBA Playoffs have been a coming out party for the 24-year-old (as of today) Jonas Valanciunas. While his All-Star teammates, DeMar DeRozan (-18.9 nERD) and Kyle Lowry (-13.8 nERD) have combined to shoot a paltry 32.5% from the field and 16.0% from long range over nine games this postseason, JV has carried the team on his broad Lithuanian shoulders.
The birthday boy is averaging 14.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.6 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game, while shooting 54.5% from the field and 81.3% from the free throw line this postseason.
His rebounding, in particular, is a large part of the reason that the struggling Raptors are still even alive, as he’s currently second in the NBA Playoffs in Offensive Rebound Percentage (16.9%), fourth in Defensive Rebound Percentage (32.2%), and third in Total Rebound Percentage (24.0%).
He has dominated matchups on the offensive end in both series Toronto has played so far this postseason as well, scoring 1.28 points per possession as the roll man on pick-and-rolls (82nd percentile) and 0.92 on post-ups (64th percentile). He currently leads the league in points scored on putbacks with 31.
The unsinkable DeMar DeRozan misfires again in his contract year | CBSSports.com
Normally, you’d wonder if a collapse like this for DeRozan would cost him any money. The stage of the playoffs is lit the brightest and that means mistakes and perceived flaws can’t hide in the shadows of those random regular season nights. DeRozan is one of the rare star shooting guards who isn’t a threat to stretch the floor from 3-point range, and yet scores efficiently because of the trips to the free-throw line. The calls have become tighter in the playoffs and so have his contributions.
During the playoffs, his free throw rate has fallen from .474 in the regular season to .298 in his 11 postseason games. He’s gone from shooting 44.6 percent from the field in the regular season to 33 percent in the playoffs. The drop-off, even if injury-induced, is troubling for someone who is supposed to help lead his team to victories and not be non-existent in the key moments that may change the tide of a series.
The struggles of Lowry and his elbow have only compounded the mistakes DeRozan is making with each forced jumper and every possession in which he opts to not attack the basket. The Raptors can survive one of those guys not being able to star, but when it happens to both guys over and over, you start wondering if there’s any scenario in which they not only make it to the conference finals but actually put up a fight against the healthy, resting Cleveland Cavaliers.
The nice thing for DeRozan is he’ll still get paid. The quality of this free-agent class is about as low as his postseason field goal percentage, and the deluge of money from the new television deal and league revenue make poor performances and most injuries completely recession-proof. DeRozan will still get a max deal because not many players close to his skill level and impact will be on a market that sees the vast majority of teams with oodles of cap space.
It would just be nice if we walked away from the end of his season, whether it’s in this round or a future playoff round thinking of how well he played and not how much he struggled.
Toronto Raptors: Don’t Put Your Hopes on DeMar DeRozan | Tip of the Tower
Further, at least DeRozan is showing some sense, shooting 42.5 percent against Miami, partly assisted by not attempting any three pointers. Unfortunately, he is compromising this, with only seven of his 63 attempts in the three games coming from within three feet of the basket.
In truth, the Compton, California native only seems to know one way to deal with any shooting issues, and that is to, as Lowry previously described, “empty his clip”. While this was good enough to clinch the first round series against the Indiana Pacers, his game-high 30 points came by making just 10 of 32 shots.
Overall, DeRozan – along with Lowry – will have a major say in how the rest of the second round matchup with the Heat pans out. And while there is absolutely no issue with being proven wrong, that isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Dwyane Wade’s doing his best to redeem an ugly Raptors-Heat series | Ball Don’t Lie – Yahoo Sports
“I can’t be in foul trouble,” Lowry said. “I think I let my team down tonight. I’ll take the loss for us on this one, because me not being on the floor hurt our team.”
Especially because losing Lowry prompted Casey to reinsert DeRozan, who had been on the bench from the 3:09 mark of the third quarter until 1:38 remaining in the fourth. During that stretch, lineups led by Lowry, floor-spacing forward Patrick Patterson, and reserves Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph built a nine-point lead midway through the fourth and fought off a Miami charge led by Wade and Goran Dragic, with the Raps up 83-79 after a Joseph jumper with 1:30 left.
“We kind of ran out of bodies once Kyle went out,” Casey said. “We left him out as long as we could, but we had to try to get him back in. We were running out of bodies. Running out of matchups.”
One body he got away from: Biyombo, who started for the injured Jonas Valanciunas, announced his presence with authority, and rolled up 13 points and 13 rebounds in 31 minutes, but played just 22 seconds of the final seven minutes of the game. During that span, Miami scored eight points in the paint and outrebounded Toronto 5-3, including two big offensive rebounds. Despite going small with Patterson at the five and DeMarre Carroll at power forward, the Raptors struggled to generate offense, too.
While the Raptors settled for jumpers late, unable to penetrate into the paint against a small-ball, switch-everything Heat defense featuring Winslow and Luol Deng at the four and five spots, Miami attacked the rim, capped by a loping, graceful Wade finger roll that tied the game at 83 with 12.6 ticks left. Toronto’s attempt at a winner (which didn’t seem too popular a design in huddle) amounted to nothing, thanks in part to Wade sniffing out an action aimed at getting Ross a catch-and-shoot look off a Patterson pindown, and we went to overtime for the third time in four games.
NBA coaches: Ranking all 30 jobs, from Warriors on down | Sports Illustrated
14. Toronto Raptors: Love the fan base, love Masai Ujiri and Views was meh but I’d cop some OVO gear if it was on the table. If this team can keep the core together and keep making smart moves, it will continue to challenge in the relatively weak East.
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