DeRozan continues Jordan-esque run, Raptors overcome Walker's Hornets
DeMar DeRozan crossed another team off his hit list Friday night, pouring in 34 points - including 10 big ones in the final five minutes - to help the Toronto Raptors put away the Charlotte Hornets.
That's now seven 30-plus-point outings in the first eight games of the season for DeRozan, a feat that hasn't been accomplished in 30 years. The last guy to do it? None other than Hornets owner Michael Jordan, whose team could do nothing to stem the tide down the stretch.
With Michael Kidd-Gilchrist sidelined, DeRozan took advantage of his smaller (and, in the case of rookie Treveon Graham, inexperienced) defenders, either shooting over them or posting them up or power-stepping his way to the rim. The Hornets had built a 10-point fourth-quarter lead on the strength of an incredible 18-0 run, but the Raptors clawed their way back, and then let DeRozan take over late.
After sitting for the first six minutes of the final frame, he re-entered with the Raptors trailing by four, and promptly knocked down five jumpers - each of them at least partially contested - including a pair of 20-foot daggers in the final minute. The last one, off a ridiculous pirouetting pullup, put the Raptors up seven with under 30 seconds to play, and they held on for a 113-111 win.
DeRozan is now averaging 34.1 points, the most through the first eight games of a season since - you guessed it - Michael Jordan in 1989. As part of another running theme, he did it all without hitting a three. Of his 273 points so far this season, only six have come from beyond the arc.
His late-game heroics helped the Raptors overcome a searing performance from Hornets point guard Kemba Walker, who had no such compunction about bombing away from deep. He dropped 40 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 from 3-point range. The Raptors had a similarly impossible time stopping Walker, who hit Steph Curry-like threes off the bounce no matter how little airspace they gave him. When Raptors bigs lunged out to challenge his shot off screens, Walker scooted past them and scored at the rim.
Alas, he didn't get quite enough help, and his remarkable effort went for naught. The Raptors, who'd lost nine of their previous 10 games in Charlotte, pulled level with the Hornets and Atlanta Hawks at 6-2, good for second in the Eastern Conference.