TORONTO — The sight was not especially encouraging, but there it was for all inside the Air Canada Centre as well as those watching on TV to see.
The Raptors, clinging to a three-point lead, were huddled in a timeout with 5:44 remaining. Well, most of the Raptors were huddled. All-Star DeMar DeRozan, saddled with five fouls, sat apart, talking to himself.
The Nets fervently wish he had stayed there, apart from everything.
But instead, DeRozan returned and poured in 10 points in the final 2:45. That gave him 17 points in the quarter, a game-high 30 on the night. And all that gave the Raptors a 100-95 first-round playoff series-equalizing Game 2 victory over the Nets Tuesday.
“It wasn’t necessarily not being able to join my teammates,” DeRozan said, explaining his solo act. “It was my competitive spirit. I was a little frustrated, just calming myself down. A little frustrated I couldn’t be out there with my team especially at that critical moment. It was just me keeping myself together.”
When he came back at 3:48, he came back big. DeRozan, who picked up his fifth foul and sat at 7:13, hit a pair of jumpers, from 20 and 18 feet, just 35 ticks apart for a four-point lead. And then he applied the backbreaker with six free throws in the final 20.6 seconds.
“He made every [big] shot. He made his free throws. He was great,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said.
DeRozan’s coach, Dwane Casey, gave his All-Star a pass for sitting apart. In fact, Casey claimed he did not even notice.
“I didn’t see it. We have a rule we want guys around the huddle. He was probably frustrated he had five fouls. DeMar is the ultimate teammate and if he was being defiant or whatever, that’s a first,” Casey said. “It didn’t bother me.”
DeRozan did bother the Nets in his redemption game following an awful playoffs debut Saturday when he shot 3-of-13. Naturally, Toronto lost. He was 9-of-21 from the floor (4-of-5 in the fourth quarter) and 12-of-14 from the line Tuesday. Naturally, Toronto won.
“People who count us out, we don’t pay no attention to that. We understand we can beat this team,” DeRozan said.
Especially if he plays like he did on Tuesday.