DeRozan: 'If we had LeBron on our team, too, we would have won'
As far as Toronto Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan is concerned, the reason his team couldn't overcome the challenge of the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers is because of one man, and one man alone.
"If we had LeBron on our team, too, we would have won," DeRozan said following the Raptors' series-ending 109-102 loss in Game 4 at the Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon.
DeMar DeRozan after Cavaliers swept Raptors: "If we had LeBron on our team, too, we woulda won." pic.twitter.com/UEgukLJm1S
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 7, 2017
His remarks were rather tongue in cheek, though, as he was responding to a question about whether his team would have fared better had it had the time off Cleveland did ahead of Game 1.
The Raptors threw every wing they had at James during the Eastern Conference semifinals, and while Tucker fared the best during his 45 minutes of action Sunday, it still wasn't nearly enough to impede the progress of The King.
James had a game-high 35 points on just 22 shots, adding nine rebounds, six assists, a rejection, and five makes from behind the arc. He finishes the series with Toronto having averaged a staggering 36 points in 41.1 minutes on 57.3 percent shooting and 48.1 percent from deep, 8.3 boards, 5.3 dimes, and 1.3 steals.
Perhaps DeRozan has a point, as Cleveland went 0-8 during the 2016-17 campaign when James didn't play, 1-5 the previous year, and 3-10 the year before that.