It's about time.
After 21 games of mediocrity and defensive ineptitude, DeMar DeRozan has returned to bring the Raptors back to being a powerhouse in the East. In his first game back, albeit against the 76ers, DD paced the Raps with 20 EFFICIENT points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while that last number could've been much higher if the team was making shots. As mentioned before, this was against the 76ers, who have about as much D as the Knicks if they all had broken legs, but you will always take a 20-4-3 game coming off of an injury and playing only 25 minutes. However, what impressed me about DeRozan's game even more than the numbers is the calmness he played with. Everything he did seemed to be smooth and under control, forcing absolutely none of his shots. This was a problem that has plagued DD over his career, occasionally he would try to play hero-ball and it would lead to some inefficient games. However, new-DeRozan was calm, poised and really promising. If this is truly how DeMar will play from now on, I have to say that maybe this injury, the adversity he faced and the extra time with the coaches was the best thing that could've happened to him. It wasn't a pretty couple of weeks, but this experience, not only for DeMar but also for the team will pay huge dividends in the end. The next game against the Hawks will be a great indication as to which DeRozan we will be getting from now on, or if this efficient game was just a product of playing against a bad team.
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