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Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan celebrates a 3-point shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, in Washington. The Raptors won 113-103. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
MIAMI — The Heat are familiar with DeMar DeRozan’s game.
Miami was eliminated by DeRozan and the Raptors in a seven-game series in the second round of last season’s Eastern Conference playoffs. DeRozan averaged 22.1 points on 38.8 percent shooting in the series as he played through a thumb injury.
The Heat would be thrilled to keep DeRozan around those averages when they face the Raptors in Toronto on Friday (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Sun). DeRozan has started this season with eye-popping numbers, as he’s averaging 36.3 points on 55.4 percent shooting to go with 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals through four games.
“The team is built around him,” said Heat forward James Johnson, who played with DeRozan in Toronto the past two seasons. “I’m not taking nothing away from DeMar, he’s a great player. He has 190 moves in his bag. But the team plays around him and they play around him well.”
The most impressive part of DeRozan’s stat line this season has to do with something he’s not doing.
DeRozan is second in the league in scoring behind just Russell Westbrook even though he’s made just one three-pointer this season. The 27-year-old is 1-of-6 from three-point range.
“He gets to the line, so that kind of makes up for him not shooting threes because he’ll probably shoot double-digit free throws,” Heat guard Tyler Johnson said of DeRozan. “It’s definitely rare. I think D-Wade was able to do something similar to that where he would maybe shoot one or two threes a game, but still put up 30.”
DeRozan ranks sixth in the NBA this season with 9.8 free throw attempts per game. Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who shot 18 free throws against the Heat on Tuesday, leads the NBA with 13.4 free throw attempts per game.
DeRozan’s offensive game is similar to the one Dwyane Wade used in his prime with the Heat. DeRozan is scoring most of his points with mid-range jumpers and fadeaways, as he’s 42-of-81 on jumpers, 6-of-10 on fadeaways and has made 22-of-32 pull-up jumpers this season.
“I think they’re different players,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the DeRozan-Wade comparison. “I see the comparison because they’re both great in the mid-range and getting to the free-throw line, but how they do it is differently.”
Tyler Johnson believes the key to stopping DeRozan is actually to stop the players around him.
“It’s just that they’re that good that you have to understand they are going to hit tough shots and they’re going to get into a rhythm,” Tyler Johnson said of players like DeRozan. “But can we limit what other guys do and can we make stops when we need to?”
[Josh Richardson, Josh McRoberts practice for first time this season]
[DeMarcus Cousins: ‘At one point, I thought Hassan Whiteside was a better player than me’]
[Expect several players to get an opportunity to ‘close’ for the Heat]
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