DeMar DeRozan was pissed. The Raptors were up 13, the shot clock was turned off and Toronto was about to hand Chicago another frustrating defeat when Pascal Siakam broke one of the unwritten rules of the NBA and launched (and missed) a 3-pointer, what would be a meaningless basket to make the margin of victory larger, rather than dribble the game out.
The reason: This was an In Season Tournament Game and point differential is the ultimate tiebreaker. DeRozan was having none of that. He got hot and was ejected.
DeMar DeRozan ejected with 1.4 remaining in Bulls-Raptors with the game out of reach. Daps up Masai Ujiri on the way back to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/vEI5TaWc0E
— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) November 25, 2023
It should be noted that by the time Siakam launched that shot, the Raptors had been eliminated from the chance to advance in the tournament. Toronto came into the game with two losses, making advancement highly unlikely to begin with, Orlando beating Boston clinched it. Siakam may not have realized that.
After the game, DeRozan was having none of the tournament reasoning.
DeMar DeRozan: “I don’t care about no In-Season Tournament points or none of that. Just respect for the game.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 25, 2023
Also made point to emphasize Bulls played poorly. Separated that from Siakam’s decision to shoot.
What Siakam did has been an issue across the league. Friday night Larry Nance Jr. scored a late bucket in the Pelicans’ win over the Clippers and appeared to come over to the Clippers bench right after and explain why. Coaches and players have struggled with when it’s okay to keep piling on points and when not to.
“I’m a big believer in the game and the respect for the game and what you do at the end of the games, for sure,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said before a recent tournament game. “But we were told that you got to account for (tournament point differential). Obviously it’s unique, it’s something hasn’t been done in the NBA, the point differential, and, obviously, you only have four games to build up as many points as possible... Hopefully you can understand that and those four pivotal games. You got to score at all costs. You got to get stopped at all costs.
“It’s the competitive nature of this In Season Tournament, something that we’ll have to calibrate and figure out but there’s definitely a delicate balance between coaching etiquette but when you get through that fourth game, if there’s a point here or there that you’re coulda had, we’ll see what the takeaways are.”
Moments like this could get more intense next Tuesday in the final games of the inaugural In Season Tournament, with six of the eight spots in the final eight knockout round still up for grabs.
