Jan 23, 2017
Slumping Raps lose DeRozan to ankle injury
The Toronto Raptors haven't had to face much adversity over the last three years, but with leading scorer DeMar DeRozan sidelined for at least two games with an ankle sprain, now is the time for the team to show its resolve. Josh Lewenberg has more.
TORONTO - January 22nd is a date that could end up haunting the Raptors for the duration of this season, if they let it.
In one fell swoop they dropped a third straight game for the first time in 14 months - to the worst team in the Western Conference, no less - and saw their leading scorer, DeMar DeRozan, go down with a sprained right ankle.
The Raptors haven't had to face much adversity over the last three years, but if there was ever a time to show their resolve, this is it.
"Everybody’s in panic mode right now," said Dwane Casey, attempting to talk the team's fan base off the ledge the following day. "It’s not time to panic. We’re going through a tough time. It’s how you come out of it."
"When it rains it pours sometimes," said DeRozan, who acknowledged the unfortunate timing of his injury. "You’ve just got to figure that part out and once you get through that part of if it, it always comes out to be worth it. That’s how I always look at it, I think I’m just an optimistic type of guy and that’s how I look at everything."
DeRozan will miss at least two games - an upcoming back-to-back at home to San Antonio Tuesday and in Memphis on Wednesday - before being reevaluated at the end of the week, the team announced on Monday. Although he could be back as early as Friday - when Toronto hosts the Milwaukee Bucks - that's probably an optimistic estimate, even for the hopeful DeRozan.
The All-Star guard walked around BioSteel Centre on his own power after the team's afternoon practice, without the help of a boot or crutches, but was limping badly. If the Raptors are going to put an end to their mid-season slump, at least in the immediate future, they'll have to do it without him.
One of the league's most durable players, DeRozan has only missed more than five contests in one of his first seven NBA seasons: a 21-game absence in 2014-15, the result of a torn tendon in his groin. The Raptors held down the fort admirably, going 12-9 without him. While only four rotation players remain from that team - Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross - there's reason to believe they can tread water for as long as he's out, but they'll have to do it playing a very different style of basketball.
So much of what Toronto does revolves around DeRozan, particularly on offence. The 27-year-old is having a career season, averaging personal bests in scoring (27.9 points, sixth-best in the NBA) and rebounding (5.2) while shooting 47 per cent from the field, highest since his rookie campaign. Only three players - Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins and Joel Embiid - have a higher usage rate (percentage of team plays used by a player while he's on the floor).
Without him, the Raptors should have a tougher time generating scoring opportunities. They can almost certainly expect fewer trips to the free-throw line and more defensive pressure on other guys, namely Lowry. Their success will hinge on their willingness to move the ball and involve everybody. Casey mentioned Ross and Norman Powell as possible replacements for DeRozan in the starting lineup and while those two will both have to step up, so will Valanciunas, Cory Joseph, Patterson - who is expected to return from his knee injury on Tuesday - and the team's other role players.
"The thing is they need to do what they do," Casey said. "They are not going to score in the traditional DeMar DeRozan way: Mid-range shots and get to the free-throw line. We are going to have to do it different ways: Get to the rim, run in transition, run the floor, attack the rim and finish. We missed nine layups [Sunday] night. Those things we can control."
Statistically, the Raptors have actually been better with DeRozan off the floor (plus-127) than with him on it (plus-102) this season. Like with any stat, that can be a bit misleading without context. For starters, DeRozan is mostly on the floor against the opposition's best players. The lineups without him - featuring Lowry and three or four bench players - are routinely among Toronto's best but they are often beating up on the other team's second unit. That said, there's a certain identity to those DeRozan-less Raptor lineups that seem to fare well, at least in contrast to the starters. They share the ball more, play at a quicker tempo and are better defensively.
The Raptors record an assist on 45.7 per cent of their field goals when DeRozan's on the floor. That number spikes to 52.5 per cent - highest on the team - when he's on the bench. They allow 5.2 fewer points per 100 possessions without him.
In the time DeRozan missed from November of 2014 to January 2015, the Raptors averaged 22.4 assists - 1.7 more than their season average that year - while making 0.7 more three-pointers per game and attempting 2.5 fewer free throws. The biggest reason they were able to find success was Lowry, who was brilliant in carrying them through that stretch, however it came at cost. By the time March hit, Lowry had burnt out. It's reasonable to make the connection between the substantial workload he shouldered in the absence of DeRozan with his collection of late-season injuries and, ultimately, Toronto's first-round sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards.
Can the Raptors survive a few games without their most lethal offensive weapon, even as bad as they've been playing and against some of the tough opponents they'll face this week? Perhaps. They have solid depth at DeRozan's position and they've got a star in Lowry that's capable of putting them on his back. But for so many reasons - Lowry's long-term health being at the top of that list - they have to hope DeRozan's ankle heals quickly.
From the fourth-quarter collapse to Lowry's late-game ejection to DeRozan's injury, Sunday's loss to Phoenix was as ugly as we'll remember it. Whether the Raptors remember it as a turning point - the night that derailed their once promising season - or a rallying cry is up to them.
"We’ve been fortunate enough to put ourselves in good position of being second in the East," Casey said. "So it’s not like we’re chopped liver. We shouldn’t be in a situation where we’re dropping our shoulders, the world is falling in, the sky is falling. We’re going through a tough time. That’s the NBA. We’ve got to be tough people to go through it."