From a Raptors perspective, DeMar DeRozan's play has been the focal point of this series. He played poorly in Game 1, and the Raptors lost. He scored 30 points in Game 2, and the Raptors won. It seems simple.
DeRozan is the all-star, so he generates the noise. Was Game 2 proof that he had adjusted to the intensity of the playoffs? Or did he just hit some tough, ill-advised shots.
That will always be the tough thing in assessing DeRozan. Until he tightens up his ball-handling ability, DeRozan's offence will consist of trips to the free-throw line and long two-point shots. Those types of shots - like DeRozan's final two baskets against Brooklyn, long jumpers over Joe Johnson - are not popular in the changing NBA. DeRozan's baskets do not come easily. Sometimes, they do not come efficiently, although his ability to get to the line helps mitigate that.
'That's what he does,' Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. 'Those shots he takes, I think they're good shots for him. You're probably not going to be able to get to the rim every time against this team because they do a great job of packing the paint. What we've got to do, and DeMar did it, is take in-between shots, some mid-range shots, basically the shots the defence is giving you, and not try to force it past that. He's grown, he's still not a finished product. We're just seeing the beginning of a guy becoming a star.'
'If I feel I can get the shot off,' DeRozan said, 'I feel like it's got a good chance of going in.
At some point, for DeRozan and the Raptors to ascend to the next level, he will likely have to find a way to not only hit hard shots, but to create easier ones. Of course, the continued offensive development of Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross could make DeRozan's task a lot easier.
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After Tuesday's game, Brooklyn forward Kevin Garnett gave what amounted to a professional wrestling promo. He looked into a camera and said that the Raptors could not very well say '[expletive] Brooklyn' and then come into Brooklyn and steal a game.
That is Garnett, though: demonstrative to the point of intimidation.
'Yeah, my rookie year,' DeRozan said when asked about the first time Garnett talked trash to him. 'I always knew he talked trash, when he was in Minnesota. I think that's what makes people love KG, for his intensity, his trash talking, him blocking the ball after the whistle. You know, little things like that. That's just him. That's not something he just started. It would be different if it [were] something he started a week ago then you could make something of it. But he's been doing it long before I was in the league.'
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While Garnett was trying to intimidate the Raptors, Paul Pierce was trying to wake his team up. He called the Nets' defence soft following the Raptors' 36-point fourth quarter on Tuesday.
'I wouldn't call them soft, either,' Casey said. 'I think you talk to our guards about some of their screens and how their screens are set and hit, they would [debate] that word also. I'm sure he's just trying to get his troops fired up by calling them soft, trying to get them ready to go in Brooklyn.'
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