What's DeRozan thinking about? 'Cavs, the Cavs, the Cavs'
The Toronto Raptors have lost six of their last eight meetings - regular season and playoffs - to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but a win against them Monday night vaults Toronto into first place in the Eastern Conference.
"That's all I'm thinking about: the Cavs, the Cavs, the Cavs," DeMar DeRozan told ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "We've already played two games against them, and both came down to the end. We've got to figure that out; we've got to get that execution."
The Raptors have lost two meetings to Cleveland this season by a combined seven points. DeRozan averaged 29 points and seven rebounds in those contests, and hung a dunk of the year candidate on Tristan Thompson.
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Still, the roadblock between the Raptors and where they want to be is dressed in wine and gold.
"We’re trying to catch Cleveland," Raps coach Dwane Casey told Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver. "We're trying to get where they are."
Monday can go a long way.
"We're going to keep working," DeRozan said. "I'm going to keep working. I'm not a fluke player; we're not an accident team."