Toronto Raptors: The Playoff Woes Of Kyle Lowry And DeMar DeRozan

Until Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan overcome their ongoing playoff woes, the Toronto Raptors will continue to fall short in the postseason.

“We The North”? More like “The North Remembers,” because every time the Toronto Raptors make it to the playoffs, it seems like their first-round series is harder to watch than The Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones. For such a loyal and win-hungry fan base, it’s probably not easy watching your favorite characters get slaughtered over and over like that.

Alas, for the third year in a row, here we are. After Saturday’s 17-point defeat in Game 4 at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, the Raptors are left staring at a 2-2 tie and a best-of-three series that puts all the pressure back on Toronto.

In Game 4, nothing went right for We The North. Ian Mahinmi exploded for 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists after being held in check the first three games, going 9-for-14 from the floor. George Hill added 22 points of his own on 9-of-11 shooting, and Toronto committed 17 turnovers leading to 25 points for the Pacers.

But worst of all was a disturbing trend that’s been on display for the entire 2016 NBA Playoffs, one that’s arguably been an ongoing theme for three years in a row: Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan absolutely stink the joint up once the postseason rolls around.

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Everyone knows that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson form the league’s best backcourt. They own that title by a mile. But after that, you wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that Lowry and DeRozan are the NBA’s second best backcourt, especially coming off career seasons in 2015-16.

Unfortunately, their Game 4 performance — 20 points, a combined 8-of-27 shooting, nine assists and nine turnovers — was not indicative of the kind of regular seasons campaigns they had.

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This year, Lowry showed up to training camp in terrific shape and averaged a career-high 21.2 points, 6.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game on relatively more efficient shooting splits of .427/.388/.811. He started in the All-Star Game, was the best point guard in the Eastern Conference and helped lead the Raptors to a franchise-best 56 wins.

DeRozan, meanwhile, posted a career-high 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field and making up for his below-average three-point stroke by getting to the line 8.4 times per game. It seemed like the Raptors were finally ready to exorcise their playoff demons with the extra support of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo behind their two best players.

Unfortunately, all that added depth overlooked the problem that’s held Toronto back for the last two — going on three — years now: Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan completely falter once the playoffs begin.

That may seem like an overgeneralization, and in some areas it is. But the overwhelming body of evidence suggests otherwise, especially when you add in how significantly this Raptors team has underachieved in the postseason for three consecutive years.

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In 2014, the third-seeded Raptors fell to a far more experienced Brooklyn Nets team in seven games in the first round. They coughed up home-court advantage in Game 1, but even losing Game 7 there wasn’t a huge deal. That team was expected to tank after trading Rudy Gay, but they made it to the playoffs and challenged a veteran Nets team behind a 21-5-5 stat line from Lowry and DeRozan’s 24-4-4.

In 2015, expectations were higher. Toronto finished with a lower seed as the No. 4 team in the East, but they won more games than the year before. Unfortunately, Lowry completely disappeared and the Raptors were swept by a mediocre Washington Wizards team despite DeRozan’s monster series (20.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, .400/.375/.824 shooting splits).

This year, Toronto squandered their home-court advantage in the series opener for the third year in a row, only this time, they did it as the East’s No. 2 seed against a seventh-seeded Pacers team that only won 45 games. For reference, two seasons ago, the 2013-14 Phoenix Suns finished ninth in the Western Conference after winning 48 games.

How have the Raptors found themselves in a competitive series against a vastly inferior team? It really boils down to Lowry and DeRozan’s struggles.

Through the first four games, Lowry is averaging just 15.5 points, 7.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game on 32.2 percent shooting from the field, 18.5 percent shooting from downtown and 70.4 percent shooting from the foul line.

DeRozan, meanwhile, has been even worse, putting up 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game on putrid .296/.000/.733 shooting splits. He’s missed all eight of his three-point attempts in the series and has only gotten to the foul line 15 times in four games.

It’s only fair to wonder whether the Raptors’ backcourt can handle the pressure of the postseason, especially after Game 4 added them both to the kind of historic list you don’t want to be on:

Through their 15 playoff games with the Raptors, Lowry and DeRozan are 5-10 overall. Lowry has only shot above 40 percent in four of those games, while DeRozan has only done so six times (and not once in this year’s playoffs).

Since joining the Raptors, Lowry’s playoff averages aren’t that bad as long as you’re only looking at the raw numbers: 17.3 PPG, 5.4 APG and 4.3 RPG. But his .360/.290/805 shooting splits paint a more vivid picture, especially with the added hue of his team’s lack of playoff success.

The same could be said of DeRozan’s career postseason averages (20.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.1 APG) given his inefficient shooting splits of .366/.265/.865.

During the regular season, it’s been easy to overlook how inefficient Lowry and DeRozan are from the floor because their teams have won a lot of games, they’ve always played hard and the Raptors’ rise in the East has been a fun story. Lowry is a human wrecking ball on both ends and DeRozan attacks the basket with entertaining athleticism and poise.

But in the playoffs, when the possessions slow down, defenses tighten up and efficient shooting becomes important, the biggest flaws with the Raptors’ star-studded backcourt have come to the forefront once again. “Overrated” is too strong a word, but the notion that Lowry and DeRozan choke in the playoffs isn’t some media-driven narrative either.

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Toronto can still easily win this series. They’re playing an outmatched Pacers team, they still have home-court advantage and top to bottom, they’re the better team. But the NBA playoffs are about stars taking over, and until Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan learn how to show up when the lights are at their brightest, the second round is as far as We The North will go.