Toronto Raptors’ Bismack Biyombo, 8, and Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner, 33, fight for the ball during first half, round one NBA basketball playoff action in Toronto on Monday, April 18, 2016. I had a great season, the season is over with and I’ve had two rough shooting nights. There are many compelling reasons why you would want DeRozan, both as a person and a player, to be a part of your organization for the long haul. After an uneven regular season in which he was named Player of the Month for November and scoring 41 points in the All-Star Game, but also seemed worn out and disengaged at times, George has been at his best so far in this series.
Advertisement
“It’s not over. We’re not satisfied with getting a win and being up 1-0”. Game 4 is Saturday at 3:00 p.m.at the Fieldhouse.
For the season, DeRozan finished third in the league in free-throw attempts per game.
However, a waiting crowd of reporters with questions about injuries and Toronto’s frontcourt dominance may have drawn a bead or two of sweat from the Indiana Pacers’ starting center, who was held out of practice. Even when he’s making his shots, look at how hard it is for him to create.
At the same time, George continued to light up DeRozan. The Pacers also lost that night, to the Chicago Bulls…. DeMarre Carroll who got the start in Game 2 on George, remains a work in progress as he makes his way back to 100% health and game form.
Lowry averaged just 12 points per game in the series on a woeful 31.6% shooting.
Toronto is now 57-27 on the season, 23-17 in road games and 46-38 against the spread. “Nobody is going to take that away from me, I’m going to put my heart (out there), and battle for every single ball, every possession”. Neither of these will appear on Lowry’s box score line.
The Raptors have overcome DeRozan’s struggles in this series thanks to Jonas Valanciunas’ dominance on the glass and his increased involvement on offense, especially in the pick-and-roll with Kyle Lowry.
Curry sits out Game 3: Golden State’s Stephen Curry will miss Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Rockets in Houston on Thursday night because of a sprained right ankle. Those two quarters featured plays like this. Excellent personnel decisions from Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and a career night from Jonas Valanciunas ensured the Raptors came away with the win.
IN has done a marvelous job in the first two games of eating up the space around DeRozan to deny him access to the rim. He shot six free throws in Game 1 and shot zero in Game 2, despite playing over 30 minutes. Solid play from bench contributors like Patrick Patterson and Cory Joseph made all the difference, and George wasn’t able to surmount the gap on his own.
The series is 1-1 and going back to Dallas, but the Mavs are going to have to play better because you can be sure the Thunder will. It took a awful, horrible, no good, very bad day by the Thunder for Dallas to win by one point – and now the Mavs could be without Dirk Nowitzki who is questionable with a knee injury (although he joked it’s not going to impact his game because he doesn’t move well anyway).
Advertisement
The same goes for the Raptors on the whole whenever DeRozan is on the floor. He has averaged 17.5 points and 17 rebounds a game through the two contests, and the Pacers have no natural matchup to slow him. His shooting off the bench opens up so much for the rest of the bench unit. For the season, IN is just a 35 percent team from 3-point land and a 44.9 percent team from the field.
