DeRozan scores career-high 45 in massive comeback win
The Philadelphia 76ers jumped out to a 22-point lead, but had no answers for DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan scored a career-high 45 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to propel the Toronto Raptors to a 114-109 victory. He hit 13-of-21 from the field, and made 13-of-15 from the charity stripe, to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
His previous career-high was 43 points, which came last season in a win over the Boston Celtics. DeRozan only made one three in that game, as compared to a career-best six triples Thursday against the Sixers.
Toronto started out sluggish, but managed to keep pace early in the first thanks to an unlikely barrage of threes from DeRozan, who is mostly known for his aversion to long-range shots. He drilled four threes - including a four-point play - to cover up for some otherwise lackadaisical play by his teammates.
Philadelphia eventually jumped ahead, and took a 22-point edge early in the third against a ragged Toronto side on the second night of a road back-to-back. Standout performances from Dario Saric and Richaun Holmes helped overcome the absence of Joel Embiid, who sat out yet again due to a back issue.
The Raptors flipped the script in the third once head coach Dwane Casey called for an unconventional small-ball lineup by swapping out his center for another point guard. Jonas Valanciunas yielded to Delon Wright, who made several hustle plays to spark a 33-15 run to end the quarter.
That set the stage for a controversial and hotly contested final frame. The Raptors only made 7-of-21 from the field, including a woeful 1-of-9 performance from deep, but they snatched six offensive rebounds, forced six turnovers, and shot 15 free throws. Sixers fans grew irate as the game slipped away from them, and channeled their frustration toward the officials.
But the bottom line is that nobody on the Sixers could guard DeRozan, especially when it mattered most. DeRozan consistently lost defensive specialist Robert Covington coming around screens, before getting into the paint and drawing contact at the rim. Toronto ran its offense exclusively through DeRozan down the stretch, and he consistently delivered.