The red shoestring Raptors director of sports science Alex McKechnie spun around DeMar DeRozan’s injured thumb in Game 5 was a popular topic of conversation on Thursday.
“It was interesting. It was an excellent method, I guess, from Alex McKechnie,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.
Whatever he did, it worked. Despite re-aggravating the thumb injury in the fourth quarter, DeRozan came back with 4:17 left and made all eight of his free throws and a jumper to keep the Raptors in front. DeRozan finished the night with 34 points and went 11-of-11 at the line.
“I’d never seen it before.