DeRozan says shoelace treatment helps, but 'hurts like hell'

A simple shoelace has helped keep DeMar DeRozan on the floor in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Alex McKechnie, the Toronto Raptors' director of sports science, was seen wrapping a red shoelace around DeRozan's injured right thumb on the sidelines Wednesday during Toronto's 99-91 victory at the Air Canada Centre. The pressure applied by the treatment is supposed to reduce swelling.

"Once he takes it off, I can move my finger," DeRozan said Friday during his team's morning shootaround. "I try to do it as much as possible. It hurts like hell, but I like that it helps."

This isn't the first time McKechnie has used the unorthodox treatment, though.

"I've done it many, many times," McKechnie said. "I think the first thing to understand is that the process is actually a very traditional way of treating injured fingers. It's used to create pressure and compression. You start very firm and you actually release pressure as you go through (wrapping it).

"Once it's completely covered in the string of the shoelace you mobilize the joint so you actually get tissue drainage and mobilization and you get immediate recovery in range (of movement)."

The All-Star injured his thumb during Game 1 while fighting for a loose ball with Dwyane Wade. It's undoubtedly acted as a hindrance when it comes to shooting the rock, as DeRozan is only connecting on 38.2 of his shots in the series.

"It's the same," DeRozan said when asked how the thumb felt Friday. "Honestly, every day I try not to think about it. The only thing that's going to help it is time, and right now we don't have too much time."

The Raptors can close out the series with a win at the American Airlines Arena on Friday night. Should they fall, they'll play yet another Game 7 at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday.