Toronto Raptors Guards Must Find Rhythm At Home
The Toronto Raptors need Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to revert back to form to secure a home victory.
Despite securing the second seed in Eastern Conference and totaling their most wins in franchise history (56), the Toronto Raptors are struggling to get past their first-round opponents.
The Raptors are in a grueling matchup against the Indiana Pacers, who seemed to be a more formidable foe than they thought.
In hindsight, it is kind of surprising since the Raptors won the regular season series 2-1 against the Pacers. However, with the series now tied at 2-2, the team must go home for Game 5 matchup that could ultimately sway the results in their favor. In order to win, they must rely on the two most important players that got them to where they are: Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
Lowry has seen less than spectacular results in the four games he’s played this series. He is only averaging 15.5 points compared to the 21.2 points he averaged in the regular season. On a positive note, he is still finding ways to get his teammates involved, recording 7.3 assists a game. Unfortunately, he has had trouble finding his shooting touch during the series.
His backcourt counterpart, DeRozan, has been no better. He led the team in scoring with 23.4 points during the season. Now it seems he’s struggled to get himself going, recording a surprising 13.3 points a game. He’s definitely in a funk of sorts and needs to break out of it if he wants a chance of advancing to the next round.
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On the other side of the spectrum, Paul George is reminding us he not the player he was when before he got injured, he is even better. George is carrying the team with 26.3 points a game. He is also taking on the challenge of guarding players such as DeRozan.
George has always been known as one of the league’s better two-way players, which probably explains why DeRozan is struggling.
Regardless of who’s guarding them, the backcourt duo for the Toronto Raptors must find a way to summon the magic they had during the regular season. Little things like creating contact and getting to the foul line can provide confidence for them both.
Also continuing to affect the game on both ends of the floor can lead to positive results. DeRozan certainly has his defense going for him, leading the team with 1.5 steals a game.
Another stat that can help in gaining a win Tuesday night is for the Toronto Raptors to score past the century mark. In their two wins against the Indiana Pacers, the Raptors have scored 100 points or more. In their losses they have scored 90 points or less.
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Lowry and DeRozan are more than capable of lifting themselves out of this collective funk. It will also be up to them to lift their team up and regain home-court advantage in the series. If not, they could likely see history repeat itself for a third consecutive first-round exit.