Friday NBA Roundup: DeMar DeRozan Has Raptors Looking Like Cavs' Biggest Threat
DeMar DeRozan is playing like a man on a mission.
That mission? To cement the Toronto Raptors as a serious threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
The kid from Compton, now 27 years old and among the highest-paid players in the NBA, has been doing what he does best, (just better than ever): scoring inside the arc.
During a 113-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, DeRozan scored 34 points on 14 two-pointers, six free throws and no threes (he attempted one).
To date, he's taken 13 threes and made two in eight games—that's 15.4 percent, if you're keeping score at home. That hasn't stopped DeRozan from becoming the first player to score 30 or more points in seven of a season's first eight games since Michael Jordan in 1986, per Megan Robinson of Global Sports.
And, as The Score's Chris Walder noted, he did it in His Airness' own building in Charlotte:
"We're witnessing history," Raptors guard Norman Powell noted afterward, per the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat.
This bit of history put a fine point on Toronto's place within the league's hierarchy early in the season.
The Hornets were among a handful of Eastern teams that looked to take their best shots at the defending champions this season. They sped out to a 6-1 start—tied with Cleveland for the best in the East—on the strength of peak Steve Clifford basketball. According to NBA.com, Charlotte ranked second in defensive rating, first in turnover ratio, third in defensive rebound percentage and second in opponent free-throw attempts coming into the contest.
Which is a fancy way of saying the Hornets play great defense without fouling, take care of the ball, clean the defensive glass and get back in transition.
Against the Raptors, they looked like anything but the safe, mistake-free ballclub they've been. They more than doubled up on turnovers compared to Toronto (11-5), got outscored at the free-throw line (21-18) and crashed the offensive boards like crazy (18-8).
Kemba Walker did his part to help the Hornets keep up with a pace outside their comfort zone. He scored 24 of his game-high 40 points during an extended 58-33 run that pulled Charlotte out of a 16-point hole late during the second quarter and into a 10-point lead early in the fourth.
But DeRozan came back with 10 more of his own after that to put the Raptors back on top. He had help down the stretch from five other Raptors in double figures, including 12 points and eight rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas upon return from a knee injury.
Toronto will need that kind of depth to keep pace with the Cavs in the race for the East's No. 1.
Cleveland stayed a step ahead in the standings with a 105-94 win over the Washington Wizards. A day after bringing the Mannequin Challenge to the White House, the Cavaliers dropped into the Verizon Center to give folks a glimpse of the form that put them into a second consecutive NBA Finals.
The visitors did it with the three-ball, draining nearly as many threes (14) as the home team attempted (15). J.R. Smith (17 points) and Kyrie Irving (29 points, six assists) accounted for nine of those combined. Channing Frye chipped in a pair off the pine.
But the most momentous three of all came from LeBron James. His trey at the four-minute, 18-second mark of the first quarter made him the youngest, at 31 years and 317 days, to score 27,000 points in his career. The record previously belonged to Kobe Bryant (32 years, 160 days).
The win over the Bradley Beal-less Wizards put the Cavs at 7-1—a game ahead of the Raptors, Hornets and Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings.
Two games back sit the Boston Celtics, another presumptive challenger to James' throne. They looked the part during a 115-87 dissection of the New York Knicks at the TD Garden.
The victory put the C's at 4-4 and stemmed a three-game skid with Al Horford and Jae Crowder both sidelined. Those two starters sat once again Friday, with Horford making his first public comments prior to the game since suffering his debilitating concussion.
The move to start Marcus Smart over rookie Jaylen Brown turned out to be another stroke of genius on Brad Stevens' part. Smart strengthened the C's disappointing defense on one end (three steals) and fueled their high-octane offense (12 points, 10 assists) on the other. His work on the ball helped to free up Isaiah Thomas to score—to the tune of 29 points in 28 minutes.
The swap of Tyler Zeller for the recently recovered Kelly Olynyk didn't hurt, either. The sweet-shooting center drained three threes en route to a 19-point night.
Boston got an assist from the officials, as well. Carmelo Anthony scored 12 points in his 12 minutes before a second technical foul during the second quarter got him tossed for good.
Without Anthony around, the Knicks could only watch as their reserves stumbled and fumbled all over the floor.
The C's, though, won't argue with the result. They needed a performance like this—aggressive on defense, sharing on offense (seven players in double figures)—to spark their sagging spirits. Without Horford and Crowder, they'll need all the help they can get to maintain their place in the Eastern race, let alone sneak closer to the summit.
It's entirely possible that no one will surpass James' Cavs by season's end. But if you had to put money on someone pulling it off, DeRozan's Raptors look like the best bet so far.
With the way he's been scoring the ball, DeRozan's not only atoning for his relative flops in Games 5 (14 points on 2-of-8 shooting) and 6 (20 points, four turnovers) of the conference finals in Cleveland, but charging toward a spring rematch of that series as fast and furiously as he can.
Sixers Snap Skid
The Philadelphia 76ers came agonizingly close to earning their first win Wednesday, only to see it slip away in overtime to the Indiana Pacers. Come Friday, the Sixers got another shot at Indy in their own building.
And this time, they hit it.
Granted, it wouldn't have been Philly if it hadn't come the hard way. The Sixers had a five-point lead with 25 seconds left, but promptly let it up by fouling Monta Ellis on a layup and sending Paul George to the line following a quick Philly turnover.
Joel Embiid nearly ended it on a long straightaway three to beat the buzzer. But the big fella made up for it in overtime, scoring the Sixers' last five points to finish with 25 of his own and a 109-105 win for his team.
The victory ends Philly's seven-game losing streak to start the season—11 games, if you include the four defeats to close out 2015-16. The Sixers have been the league's last winless team in each of the last three campaigns. But their 1-7 start to 2016-17 counts as a drastic improvement over the 17- and 18-game slides through which they suffered in 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively.
Clippers Get Even in OKC
If not for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Clippers would be the NBA's only unblemished squad. But an 85-83 shortfall at Staples Center on Nov. 2 left Doc Rivers' squad with merely the best record in basketball.
The Clippers held on to that distinction (and snagged some payback) with a 110-108 win over the Thunder in OKC on Friday. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul once again paved the way for L.A.—the former with a team-high 25 points, the latter with 17 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and not a single turnover.
They followed a flat first quarter (16 points on 5-on-22 shooting) by scoring 94 points on 53.1 percent shooting (9-of-20 from three) over the final three. The game nearly came to a standstill in the fourth, when the Thunder hacked away at DeAndre Jordan; The twist-haired center accounted for six of the Clippers' 11 missed free throws in that final frame.
Russell Westbrook (29 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists) and Victor Oladipo (18 points) helped OKC claw back from a 102-94 deficit during the final three minutes. But Westbrook's 28-footer in the final seconds went wanting, and Jamal Crawford (19 points) came up with the ball to extend the Clippers' franchise- and NBA-best start to 8-1.
Hayward Goes Haywire
Gordon Hayward hasn't wasted any time getting back into the swing of things for the Utah Jazz. He's now 4-of-4 in 20-point games since making his season debut Monday, with 20 more through three quarters during an 87-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.
The free-agent-to-be fell two assists short of scoring his first career triple-double. Four of his helpers set up Derrick Favors, with Trey Lyles (eight points, two threes) and Shelvin Mack (nine points) splitting the other four.
Rudy Gobert (13 points, 13 rebounds) didn't need a dish from Hayward to log his highlight of the night.
When Hayward was done scoring, he handed off responsibility to Rodney Hood, who scored eight straight points during the fourth quarter to put the Jazz ahead for good.
Together, they lifted Utah to a third win in four games since Hayward returned. If the 26-year-old can stay healthy—and keep playing at this level—for a while, the Jazz should start to look like the contender for which they'd been pegged in short order.
Centers Dance in San Antonio
In the big picture, the San Antonio Spurs are Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge's team. But on Friday, the spotlight belonged to Pau Gasol. The 36-year-old Spaniard more than held his own opposite 23-year-old Andre Drummond.
Gasol gave up 20 points and 17 rebounds to Drummond but helped force six of his turnovers and countered with 21 points, nine boards and six assists of his own.
The other Spurs took care of the rest. Four of Gasol's teammates finished in double figures, including Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills with 10 points apiece off the bench. Tony Parker returned from a three-game absence to contribute seven points and four assists.
The win ended a three-game home losing streak for San Antonio, a year after tying the NBA record with one defeat in their own building during the entire 2015-16 season.
This year's Spurs are already well behind last year's franchise-best 67-win pace, but with Parker back and Danny Green having returned Wednesday, they should be a top-four contender in the West nonetheless.
Kings Crumble in Rip City
Which is worse: bleeding away a double-digit lead over a couple quarters or coming back in the final minute only to lose?
The Sacramento Kings would know. A day after surrendering a 19-point advantage in a 101-91 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden 1 Center, the Kings hiked up to Portland, where they suffered a 122-120 overtime defeat to the Trail Blazers.
DeMarcus Cousins dragged Sacramento out of a five-point hole over the final 31 seconds of regulation with a clutch three-pointer and a driving layup. The two teams went back and forth in overtime, with Boogie (33 points, nine rebounds, three assists), Rudy Gay (29 points, 14 rebounds, three assists) and Darren Collison (20 points, four assists) trading buckets with Damian Lillard (36 points, seven assists) and C.J. McCollum (31 points, five assists, four steals).
Cousins and Gay each had opportunities to take the lead or tie in the final 10 seconds, but both of their shots misfired, leaving the Kings with a sixth defeat in their last eight games.
