TORONTO — Toronto Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan says the stinker of a performance he had in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers was just one of those rare off-games, despite the fact two-time All-NBA defensive player Paul George was blanketed all over him for the majority of Saturday afternoon.
"Nothing’s causing me problems," DeRozan said Monday morning. "I missed a lot of easy shots, a lot of floaters that I normally make. I’d take all them shots again. I know I wouldn’t go 4-for-19 or whatever I went."
DeRozan was actually 5-of-19 in Game 1, so he performed a little better than he thought, but that doesn’t take away from how rough a game he had, something he’s confident he’ll bounce back from.
"I’ll be fine," DeRozan said. "You know I watched my shot selection, the things I did. I’m not worried about it at all. That was just one of them nights when I just needed to get it out of my system, so to speak, and [I’ll] be much better tonight."
History supports DeRozan’s claim, as in each of the last two series openers he’s played, he was awful (3-of-13 in 2014 and 6-of-20 last year) but managed to bounce back with a much stronger performance in Game 2 (30 points in 2014 and a 9-of-18 night last year).
This kind of rebound performance is exactly what George is expecting to see from DeRozan, so he’s taking his fine defensive play against the Raptors guard in Game 1 with a pinch of salt.
"DeMar is good as anybody in this league," George said. "He’s an all-star and the reason why he’s been an all-star is because his job is making shots. He didn’t make shots in Game 1 and it’s going to be like that sometimes — sometimes shots don’t go in. But I know DeMar. DeMar is as fierce as they come."
HOW WILL RAPTORS STOP GEORGE?
Of course, George’s offensive performance in Game 1 was also a big reason why the Pacers are up 1-0 on the Raptors in their best-of-seven series, and despite the apparent ease with which George was making shots — in the second half in particular when he scored 27 of his 33 points — it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the Raptors’ part.
"Somebody wrote an article this morning that said we didn’t make adjustments," Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. "It was the most asinine thing I’ve read. We made adjustments, we blitzed him, we switched it, we did everything. So somebody who watched the game and says we didn’t do different things on Paul George wasn’t watching the game."
So then, given all the looks they gave George last time to little effect, how does Casey plan to, at the very least, slow down the Pacers all-star? Maybe a little more DeMarre Carroll on him, like much of the fan base was asking on Twitter when George was going off on DeRozan?
"We plan to [use Carroll more]," Casey said. "That’s what he came here for is to guard. He’s going to have to do a good job on Paul George, but not one guy is going to stop him."
Yes, by all accounts it does look like the Raptors do intend to use Carroll more in Game 2, but the Raptors forward said that he experienced some swelling in his knee after Game 1, so there is a bit of a concern there. But no matter how hurt Carroll may be, Casey says it’s just something he’s going to have to fight through.
"My understanding is he’s going to have that," Casey said of the swelling in Carroll’s knee. "That’s going to happen. He’s going to have that after-effect after playing that type of game. So that’s one thing that he’s going to have to play through until his body gets 100 per cent."
So while Casey and his staff will be trying out Carroll on George more in Game 2, it still won’t be surprising if DeRozan ends up getting the brunt of the minutes guarding him, unless a player like James Johnson, who didn’t see any floor time in Game 1, ends up being relied upon in spurts.
CAN RAPTORS PLAY PHYSICAL WITHOUT FOULING?
One of the only bright spots in Game 2 was Jonas Valanciunas’ dominance on the glass. The big man collected 19 rebounds, but ended up fouling out.
The Pacers brought physicality to the game that the Raptors tried to match but ended up crossing the line too often, leading to a lot of momentum-stopping whistles. Casey wants his team to try to dig into guys even more, and says they need a little more self-composure in the face of a whistle that may not be the ideal.
"You’ve got to compete with poise," Casey said. "I don’t think that our guys weren’t into it or weren’t excited to play, but you’ve got to keep a sense of poise, or understanding what we do to get open.
"’Where do I want to catch the ball? Where do I want to set the screen? How should I be angled to set the screen to help my teammate get a better catch, the easier catch?’ All those little things you lose sometimes in the excitement of the moment."
The Raptors didn’t have that poise in Game 1, but facing a pseudo must-win Game 2 they’ll need that in spades as going down 0-2 will likely evoke too many bad memories of last year’s playoff debacle.
