Spurs forward DeMar DeRozan entered Thursday night’s game against Oklahoma City on a career-best playmaking roll.
Since returning to the team after being away for five days to mourn his father’s death, DeRozan has posted 11 assists in three consecutive games, a career first. Before Saturday’s game against New Orleans, he had just nine games with 11-plus assists in his 12 seasons.
“He can control and dominate a game by getting everybody else involved and making the right plays,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said. “He can impact the game by more than just scoring the ball.”
DeRozan came into Thursday’s game ranked 13th in the NBA in assists per game with a career-best 7.3. And he has excelled at protecting the ball all season, committing just 2.3 turnovers per 100 possessions and turning it over only four times in the past three games.
Since joining the Spurs after the 2017-18 season, DeRozan has recorded 17 games with 10-plus assists, including seven this season. He had just three such games with the Toronto Raptors from 2009 to 2018.
Playmaking is “just a skill that he has,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s important to us because he is one of the guys on the team that can penetrate and draw crowds, which in these days in the NBA is the key because it generates 3-point shots.”
DeRozan has been creating his own shots as well, entering Thursday’s game with a 20.0 scoring average to lead the team.
“He’s definitely been amazing,” Johnson said. “I feel like he does better and better every game. It’s his all-around game.”
Aldridge remains out
with a stomach bug
Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge sat out his second straight game with what the team called a stomach illness.
Aldridge has missed 11 games this season, including three because of a sore knee and six because of a sore hip.
Derrick White, Rudy Gay and Devin Vassell remained sidelined while going through post-COVID-19 health and safety protocols reconditioning. They have missed five games in a row.
Ticket prices will be
‘similar’ to before
More than 3,000 Spurs fans will re-energize the AT&T Center next week after watching the games at home for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the restricted attendance has some wondering how much they’ll have to pay to get a seat inside.
The franchise on Monday announced the decision to host fans again, starting March 12 against the Orlando Magic. The AT&T Center has the capacity to seat more than 18,000 people for basketball games but will limit attendance to ensure a space of 6 feet between groups.
“We will have seats available at nearly all price levels, similar to past seasons,” said Liberty Swift, a spokeswoman for Spurs Sports and Entertainment, which operates the Bexar County-owned AT&T Center. “To give you an example on starting prices — seats start as low as $14 in the balcony and $69 in the plaza level.”
Season ticket holders were given first-priority access to ticket sales Tuesday. Ticket resellers as of Tuesday afternoon were listing packs of four seats for $129 to the game against the Orlando Magic on SeatGeek, a third-party site.
Members of the Official Spurs Fan Club are next in line for ticket access. They will be able to start snagging tickets at noon Friday.
Sales to the general public start at 2 p.m. Friday.
The Spurs will adhere to a COVID-19 commitment plan to ensure a safe experience inside the AT&T Center. The plan includes face mask requirements, pod seating, cashless payments and health screenings.
Walker ‘rooting’ for
new T-Wolves coach
Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV said he’s “rooting” for fellow Berks County, Pa., product Chris Finch, who became coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 22.
Finch, formerly an assistant with the Raptors, replaced Ryan Saunders. The Timberwolves fired Saunders on Feb. 21 after they lost at New York to fall to a league-worst 7-24.
“I don’t have any history with him, but coming from Berks County, I’m rooting for him,” Walker said. “It’s incredibly amazing we have another ‘family member’ as part of the league.”
Finch, 51, graduated from Wilson High in West Lawn. Walker, 22, is a graduate of Reading High in Reading, the Berks county seat.
Staff writer Madalyn Mendoza contributed to this report.
torsborn@express-news.net
Twitter: @tom_orsborn
March 05, 2021 at 07:30AM
https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/San-Antonio-Spurs-DeMar-DeRozan-making-life-16001808.php
San Antonio Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan making life easy for teammates - San Antonio Express-News
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