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Toronto Raptors: 3 Keys To NBA Finals Chances

By Nathan Van Hoff

Dec 13, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey talks to guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and forward Tyler Hansbrough (50) and guard Terrence Ross (31) against the Philadelphia 76ers at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the 76ers 108-100. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey talks to guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and forward Tyler Hansbrough (50) and guard Terrence Ross (31) against the Philadelphia 76ers at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the 76ers 108-100. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dribbles as Brooklyn Nets guard Alan Anderson (6) tries to defend during the third quarter in a game at Air Canada Centre The Brooklyn Nets won 109-93. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dribbles as Brooklyn Nets guard Alan Anderson (6) tries to defend during the third quarter in a game at Air Canada Centre The Brooklyn Nets won 109-93. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan is the second-half of the Raptors All-Star backcourt. Point guard Kyle Lowry was named a 2015 All-Star while DeRozan was an All-Star last season. DeRozan was limited to 32 of 53 games before the All-Star break because of a strained groin. He has played in the Raptors’ last 17 games and seems to be fully healthy.

DeRozan was a big part of the reason the Raptors won the Atlantic Division for the second time and won the most games in franchise history (48) last year. In his fifth season out of the University of Southern California, the 6’7″ shooting guard averaged a career high 22.7 points per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.1 steals while being selected to his first All-Star Game.

DeRozan represents a key area that the Raptors can improve for two reasons.

1. As I wrote earlier, the Raptors have their best record by far at this point in the season and that was accomplished with DeRozan missing 21 games.

Currently, DeRozan has the second highest point differential on the team of 4.7. He also has the second highest defensive rating on the team of 101.1, per NBA.com. This season, the Raptors are 12-9 without DeRozan and 25-8 with DeRozan. Simply by being healthy and playing, DeRozan improves the Raptors chances of making the Finals. The key is being healthy come playoff time.

2. The other reason DeRozan can be an important piece in pushing the Raptors to the next level is that, even though he has clearly helped the team while on the court this season, he also hasn’t shot the ball very well yet.

Season Age Tm Pos G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% TRB AST STL PTS
2013-14 ★ 24 TOR SG 79 79 38.2 7.6 17.8 .429 0.8 2.7 .305 6.6 8.0 .824 4.3 4.0 1.1 22.7
2014-15 25 TOR SG 32 32 33.4 6.1 15.5 .394 0.3 1.3 .214 5.9 7.3 .800 4.3 3.3 1.3 18.3
Career 415 403 33.3 6.1 13.7 .442 0.3 1.3 .263 4.3 5.3 .813 3.7 2.3 0.9 16.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/20/2015.

Comparing this season to last season, you can see his scoring is down 4.4 points per game, due mainly to playing fewer minutes (coming back from injury) and a lower shooting percentage. He’s shooting 39.4 percent from the field and an awful 21.4 percent from three. That is 3.5 percent lower than last year and 4.8 percent lower than his career mark of 44.2 percent from the field.

He has never been a good shooter from three-point range and this season is atrocious. His 39.4 percent shooting mark is a career low.

DeRozan isn’t a very efficient scorer, but he makes up for it by getting to the line a ton and shooting a high percentage once he gets there. DeRozan doesn’t have to start shooting 50 percent from the field to help the Raptors, if he could just crawl out of the basement and closer to last season’s 42.9 percent mark that would help.

The Raptors are already the 2nd best offense in the league. A somewhat efficient DeRozan could push them to the top.

Against the Hawks he scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 1-of-4 from three, to go along with eight rebounds, three steals, an assist and three turnovers in almost 28 minutes. DeRozan will probably continue to shoot threes, but he is much better served shooting from inside the arc where he is a 46.1 percent career shooter, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Next: Team Defense

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