DeMar DeRozan was on an absolute tear during the regular season, leading the Toronto Raptors the a 1-seed and the highest win total in franchise history, but his savvy scoring touch has gone awry in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
After posting 26.7 points per game against the Washington Wizards in the first round, DeRozan’s scoring output reversed against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The lowlight was DeRozan sitting out the entire fourth quarter of game three as the Raptors nearly overcame a 17-point deficit after he started the game just 3-for-12 from the field.
LeBron James made note of DeRozan’s struggles during Monday morning’s media availability:
“DeMar DeRozan has missed a lot of easy opportunities against us … He got into the lane four or five times and missed some floaters, missed some layups, missed a couple wide-open 3s that he’s been making. So it’s easy to say the job we’ve done (has slowed down DeRozan), but when you’re playing against an All-Star starter and the caliber of player of DeMar, you just try to make it challenging on him and then hope that he misses shots.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers look to wrap up the series in game four tonight at 8:30 p.m.
