Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Morning Coffee – Sat, Feb 23 – Was that closure?

Some say that was like closure.

by
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP

Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP

Raptors’ win in DeRozan’s emotional return feels like closure | The Star

“It’s an honour. I spent practically my whole career here, to come back and get a reception like that is definitely humbling, beyond gratifying and I appreciate it,” DeRozan said after Toronto’s pulsating 120-117 win. “Walking off the floor it hit me more than anything. Just a feeling of, knowing what it’s like walking off that floor, whether it’s from playoff games, the good, the bad, the ugly.”

“He was a complete class act, like he always is,” said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

And at the end, with the game in his hands, he was on the floor, his best friend descending like a hyena, the player he was traded for streaking away with the ball. In his return to Toronto, DeRozan was as loved as Kawhi Leonard was booed when these teams met in San Antonio. Kawhi abandoned the Spurs; DeMar never wanted to leave Toronto.

So DeRozan was ringed with cameras from the moment he stepped in the building, and there were more people in their seats before the tip for a 7 p.m. Friday night start than in any Raptors game in memory. He was cheered before the game, during starters’ introductions, and when he embraced Kyle Lowry before the tip. He was cheered every time he touched the ball, though less as the game went on.

And for all the love, it’s still Toronto. The building roared down the stretch when DeRozan couldn’t back down his buddy Lowry — “Kyle’s fat ass know how to guard me, obviously,” said DeRozan with a grin — and threw a pass that Pascal Siakam, ever ascending, picked off. And they roared when Leonard hit a turnaround jumper over DeMar, one on one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2mjY27mMk

Spurs vs. Raptors: DeMar DeRozan's disastrous final moments spoil otherwise warm homecoming in Toronto – CBSSports.com

It was a rough ending to what was otherwise a great night for DeRozan. Not only did he play well, but he also received a rousing standing ovation from the Toronto fans when he was introduced before the game. Unfortunately for him, the ending will overshadow all of that.

The final stretch was particularly telling considering that the DeRozan-Leonard swap was almost universally considered an upgrade for the Raptors because of DeRozan’s history of poor playoff performances. Fair or not, DeRozan has a reputation as somewhat of a choke artist when the bright lights are shining, and has been blamed for the Raptors’ disappointing playoff defeats in recent years.

So the fact that Leonard, an NBA champion and Finals MVP brought in to take Toronto to the next level, ended up getting the steal from DeRozan and scoring the game-winning basket — in a nationally televised game — fit the narrative to a T. It remains to be seen how the Raptors will perform with Kawhi this postseason, or how DeRozan will do if the Spurs make the playoffs, but DeRozan’s late struggles on Friday highlighted the underlying issues that ultimately led to his departure from the city he called home for nine seasons.

DeMar DeRozan gets two ovations, but falls to former team in return to Toronto

DeMar DeRozan fantasized about the moment 24 hours before in a room full of reporters at the Four Seasons hotel, only to live it Friday at a packed Scotiabank Arena that welcomed back the former Toronto Raptor with the standing ovation he envisioned.

Just as fast, the fantasy devolved into a harsh reality for DeRozan, with him committing the turnover that cost the San Antonio Spurs the game with 16.9 seconds remaining in a 120-117 loss that soured his return to Toronto.

“It made it exciting, made it fun to go out there, play and compete,” DeRozan said of his reception from the crowd in playing his first game in Toronto since the team traded him, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick to San Antonio in July for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. “It came down to a couple of plays. It sucks that the critical play was me turning the ball over. But for the most part, I think it was a hell of a game.”

Making the dramatic ending juicier was the fact DeRozan committed the turnover at midcourt after a missed Serge Ibaka free throw with San Antonio leading 117-116 and best friend Kyle Lowry guarding him along with Leonard. Leonard poked the ball loose as DeRozan attempted to advance the ball up the court, and then raced the other way for a dunk to give the Raptors a 118-117 edge with 15.1 seconds remaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgiMpgcV78E

DeRozan-Kawhi blockbuster shocked ex-Raptor Ross but he and Ed Davis know NBA is a business | Toronto Sun

“It was shocking,” Orlando Magic swingman Terrence Ross told the Toronto Sun earlier this season.
“I mean I get it, it’s a business, but it just shows you kind of how ugly it is and how it can get,” Ross said.
“Especially because they have a meeting and say he isn’t going to get traded and literally a week later he gets traded, so (there has been considerable debate about the exact semantics of that situation)… But it happens man. It’s a business.”
Brooklyn Nets centre Ed Davis is one of DeRozan’s closest friends and expected him to be battling through his feelings on Friday night, a nail-biting 120-117 Raptors win in the end.
“I think he’s going to be a little emotional, for being here for nine years,” Davis told the Sun earlier this month.
“But it’s a business and pretty sure he wants to have one of the best games of his career. Hopefully he has a great game.” Kyle Lowry is now the last man standing from the start of this Raptors franchise surge, but Davis isn’t all that surprised.
“Honestly it’s not crazy. That’s just how the NBA works,” he said.
“Sh__, I was with the Lakers like four or five years ago and not one person from that team (is still there). It’s the NBA. That’s how it works.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk8YDaWH5Ac

Ex-Files: Former Raptors DeRozan, Gay finding new strengths with Spurs – Sportsnet.ca

Rudy Gay is the kind of feel-good story that 2019 desperately needs.

His basic box score averages of 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game aren’t career-highs or team-highs, but the way he’s gotten to them is significant. In his third season since suffering a career-altering torn Achilles tendon, and his 13th in the NBA overall, he’e putting together his most efficient campaign since entering the league.

So far his TS% is hovering around 60 per cent, a massive increase from his career average of 53.5 per cent. While the vast majority of his shots still come from the mid-range — just 22 per cent of his attempts are three pointers compared to 51 per cent of them coming from inside the arc — he’s connecting on them at near league-best levels.

Gay has made 44 per cent of his three pointers overall, but that number rockets up to 51 per cent when launching from the corners — ranking in the 93rd and 97th percentiles respectively among forwards in the NBA.

Marc Gasol Q&A: On trade to Raptors, leaving Memphis, facing Pau – Sportsnet.ca

Those “Grit n’ Grind” Grizzlies certainly had a clear identity.

Gasol: It was perfect timing. At a time with OKC having Kevin Durant and Russell [Westbrook], a time with DeAndre, Blake, and Chris and “Lob City” — compare that to me and Zach [Randolph]. Those guys combined get maybe 80 inches off the ground; me and Z-Bo combine for six.

It just meshed with the city so well. It really resembled who we were and our community. There’s not much of a show in Memphis, there’s not the bright lights and those kinds of things. Everything is blue-collar, hard-working, you have to earn everything — and then the power that sports has to bring people together in a place where it hasn’t always been known for the closeness of the community. To bring together people from different places — here we are, Zach, Mike Conley, Tony Allen and myself —  those four guys, bringing that community as one, that was great.

Raptors fend off Spurs after Lowry and Leonard pick DeRozan’s pocket late | The Star

“It was just: Be patient, don’t foul right away, try to get the trap first,” Lowry said post-game. “I was going no matter what. I turned him, and once he turned I went after the ball. One of us got our hand on it. I hit it up and (Leonard) grabbed it and we got going.”

Said coach Nick Nurse: “Really, really heads-up play by (Lowry).”

The Raptors got a stop on the next possession, and a video review showed Lowry was inbounds to secure possession after the missed shot with 1.1 seconds left. The Raptors got the ball inbounds after calling two timeouts to set up the play, and Leonard iced the game at the line.

DeRozan would finish with 23 points and seven assists, cheered by the sold-out crowd from the time he first walked on the court to warm up for the game.

“I thought it was a great game, a real competitive game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “After a long break, (you’d think) you wouldn’t get something like that. It would take everybody a while to get back in the groove. I thought both teams started out a little bit slowly, but a really good, competitive game all the way around.”

Leonard will be quite glad to see the end of his former team for this season. Leonard missed 11 of his first 13 shots, held in check by a series of much smaller defenders than he’s used to seeing, before getting untracked a bit in the second half. He finished with 25 points on 8-for-23 shooting and two assists.

DeRozan hits Lowry with back-handed compliment after loss to Raptors

The topic of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry’s bromance has been discussed in every possible format in every corner of the Raptors world for years.

On Friday, however, it got new life as DeRozan made his return to Toronto and was able to see and play against the man he was famously close to for years.

(When the Raptors travelled to San Antonio earlier this season for DeRozan’s first game against his former squad, Lowry was unable to play due to a back injury.)

As one would expect, there was nothing but love between the two when they met on the court.

Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan Gets Cheers in Return to Toronto, but Raptors Get Win – The New York Times

“Tonight was like a playoff game,” Leonard said. “We had to grind it out all the way to the end.”

Leonard scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, and he combined with Kyle Lowry to strip DeRozan at midcourt before racing in alone for a one-handed slam.

“I knew they were going to be aggressive, trying to make a play on the ball and then foul,” DeRozan said. “I’ve just got to be more aware.”

Traded to San Antonio in the off-season deal that sent Leonard to Toronto, DeRozan received a warm welcome in the homecoming and finished with 23 points but was denied a second victory over his former team. DeRozan had his first career triple-double when the Spurs beat the Raptors 125-107 in Texas on Jan. 3, finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.

Lowry and DeRozan embraced near center court on Friday night after the final whistle as the capacity crowd of 20,058 cheered.

Fans rose for a standing ovation when DeRozan and the Spurs jogged out for pregame warm-ups, and were on their feet again when San Antonio’s starters were introduced.

The longest, loudest cheer came after a tribute video that ran during the first timeout. With the crowd roaring, DeRozan got up from the bench and walked onto the court, acknowledging the fans with several waves.

“To come back here and get a reception like that is definitely humbling, beyond gratifying,” DeRozan said.

$200+ for the nosebleeds: DeRozan’s return most expensive Raptors ticket this season | The Star

The cheapest tickets on resale market StubHub — in an upper corner of Scotiabank Arena — were going for about $214 (Canadian) each with fees around 1 p.m. Friday.

On rival resale market SeatGeek, those tickets are $279 with fees. If you want to move down to the 100 level — again, in the corner — it’ll cost you over $650 on SeatGeek.

DeRozan’s connection with Raptors, city of Toronto may never be replaced

Would he spend some time in the city walking around, seeing the sights?

“No, too cold,” he said.

Spoken like a true Torontonian. Once you’re one of us you can complain about the weather all you want. DeRozan has earned that much.

What to think, what to feel about his first visit to his first NBA home?

He’s not sure. Reducing a decade of his life since he was drafted by the Raptors let alone the “whirlwind” six months since he was traded into a digestible morsel was beyond him in advance of Friday night’s homecoming.

He’ll enter the visitors dressing room for the first time; he’ll go head-to-head against his best friend and teammate for six years, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. He’ll be trying to send the sell-out crowd home unhappy after nearly a decade of doing everything he could to make their nights memorable, their seasons worth something.

He wore his heart on his sleeve – right around where he has the word ‘loyalty’ tattooed cursive on his wrist.

And he paid for it. The trade – justifiable as it was – came like a jolt from a downed hydro wire, leaving him questioning everything he had come to stand for while sitting in a fast food parking lot trying to make sense of the news.

The anger has passed. In San Antonio he’s landed in a good place. His game – carved out piece by piece, off-season by off-season, has travelled well. He’s leading the Spurs in points while averaging career highs in rebounds and assists.

He’s come to terms with being on the wrong end of a break-up, of being told he’s no longer the one, of finding out how he felt about the relationship didn’t matter anymore.

“… She’s moved on and I’ve moved on,” he said, metaphorically. “We both have.”

Raptors hold on to spoil DeRozan’s return to Toronto | Toronto Sun

So despite a handful of standing ovations from the time he walked on the court to the moving video tribute at the first timeout and well beyond that, with the game still very much in the balance and Kawhi Leonard backing down DeRozan with minutes left in the game, the sellout crowd was fully on board with the current Raptor (Leonard), who rose up and shot one over the former nine-year Raptor to put the hosts up.

The decibel level rose another level with about 17 seconds remaining and the Raptors, now down a point after Serge Ibaka’s second free-throw attempt came up short, desperately looking for a way to turn the game.

DeRozan was bringing the ball up the court with the lead when Leonard and Kyle Lowry converged on him and, between them, dislodged the ball from DeRozan’s grip without fouling, allowing Leonard to walk in for an uncontested and eventual game-winning dunk in what would become a 120-117 Toronto win.

It was some nice payback for Leonard in particular, who was public enemy No. 1 in the first meeting with this team in San Antonio, hearing as many taunts and catcalls, not to mention boos, as DeRozan was feted with cheers and standing ovations for most of the night until it came down to crunch time.

Lowry refused to gloat afterwards when asked about his and Leonard’s game-winning strip at midcourt of his best friend in the game.

San Antonio @ Toronto, Final Score: Raptors prolong Spurs’ road woes 120-117 – Pounding The Rock

Despite the 1-4 start this month, the Spurs have won a staggering 67% (91-45) of their Rodeo Road trip games in franchise history.
DeMar DeRozan’s warm reception from Raptors’ fans extended beyond half a minute and he seemed to happily smile in response. The crowd cheered for him whenever he had the ball in the first several minutes of action. Additionally, the team played a two minute tribute video for DeRozan during the first timeout and DeMar came onto the court to acknowledge the gesture.
Derrick White, on a minutes restriction, started the game defending Kawhi Leonard, while Bryn Forbes was assigned to Kyle Lowry. Leonard committed a turnover on his first drive with an errant pass that White stole.
In an early sequence showing how valuable point guard play can be, Kyle Lowry missed his third 3-pointer in a row, after the Raptors had used solid ball movement to score early and often, while White found LaMarcus Aldridge with a nifty pass in traffic for a layup to trim the lead to two.
Late in the first, Jakob Poeltl paired two blocks on Jeremy Lin shots with an offensive rebound in a pack of Raptors. San Antonio uncharacteristically committed seven turnovers and combined with Toronto’s solid shooting from distance trailed at the end of one, 23-26.
Marc Gasol, the other Raptor trade deadline acquisition, asserted himself by being very physical with the Spurs bigs, while acting as a facilitator for his teammates on offense.
The Spurs went on a 10-0 run in the second period to lead 37-33 behind the shooting of Davis Bertans and Marco Belinelli, to go with good perimeter defense on the Raptor shooters. In today’s pace-and-space league, Belinelli somehow managed to have traveling called on him twice.

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