DeMar DeRozan: Back In Playoff Form

He’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

And not even running into the closest bathroom with a tiny window to escape from will save you from the terrifying force that is DeMar DeRozan back in NBA basketball shape.

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Since his return, DeRozan has just looked off. He’s had some nice nights, but never anything that made you say, “Okay, he looks like he did pre-injury.” His explosiveness seemed alarmingly absent, his attack-the-rim mentality appeared to have turned into a strange hesitating one and his shot selection didn’t get any better in the midrange.

That all changed last Monday when the Toronto Raptors matched up with the Houston Rockets. With Kyle Lowry out for the Raps and Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverley and a few others missing for the Rox, it suddenly became the DeRozan vs. James Harden show.

It’s pretty rare these days to get a game in which two high-level players get red-hot at the same time and carry their teams offensively. But that’s exactly what happened that Monday evening. DeRozan and Harden are good friends off the floor and have known each other for years. You could see it in DeMar’s eyes that he wanted so badly to beat his buddy and show the world that he can ball with the best of ’em.

Well, he sure did that. DeRozan put up a line of 42 points (a career-high), 11 rebounds, one steal and one block on 51.9 percent shooting from the field, 50.0 percent shooting from deep and 70.6 percent shooting from the free throw line. He played for a total of 41 minutes.

Suddenly his game was back. He attacked the rim over and over, went to the foul line where he’s at his best, hit a couple three-pointers and even nailed the game-winning money-shot over Harden (who did score 31) himself.

This was the DeRozan we got to see last postseason during the Brooklyn Nets series. This game drew some parallels to Game 2, in which he gave Brooklyn a few dizzying haymakers in the fourth quarter until he finally killed them with a game-winning shot much like his one over Harden.

With all the buzz Harden has received this season, DeRozan seemed determined to prove that he could beat a guy who many consider this season’s MVP. So they dueled and, this time, DeRozan won out.

This is not only exactly what DeRozan needed to get his game back on track, but the Raptors too. With the way they’ve been playing lately, it’s been perfectly acceptable to wonder if they will ever reach the peak level they hit earlier this season.

They’ve started beating the teams they’re supposed to beat again, even without Kyle Lowry at the helm. DeRozan is taking his co-leadership stance to a new height and placing all of the responsibility on his shoulders while his All-Star point guard recovers.

It’s a huge relief to know that DeRozan’s career-high game came post-injury. He’s healing up quite well and finding himself again. This is the player that the squad is going to need come the playoffs. It won’t matter who they play. The Raptors rely heavily on production from their two main stars and anything else they get is just whipped cream on top.

Lou Williams is hit-or-miss every single night; ditto for Terrence Ross; James Johnson can’t shoot; Amir Johnson is constantly dealing with injury. Other guys, like Jonas Valanciunas, do contribute each night in a usually positive way. But besides DeRozan and Lowry, none can single-handedly turn around the fortunes of a game.

Players do this in different ways. DeRozan does it with scoring. It’s important to keep in mind that last season he was second in the league (to Harden) in points per game at the shooting guard position, averaging 22 points a contest. Due to his injury and herky-jerky play this season, he’s been left out of the “best shooting guard in the league” conversation recently. But make no mistake, he absolutely belongs in it.

DeRozan is just 25 years old. He’s on the threshold of his prime. He’s one of the hardest working players in the league, and now he’s starting to feel comfortable again.

Slowly but surely, here come the Raptors.

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