DeMar DeRozan of the Spurs responds to the bell with a full game against the Raptors

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In the seconds leading up to the AT & T Center's dashboard video tribute, a loud, noisy fan wearing a huge cowboy hat made it clear expectations:

"Everyone is getting ready to boo!"

They were and they did it.

Until the match begins and DeMar DeRozan, San Antonio's new favorite son, and his new best friends, dismantle his old team as a naughty child, a spider.

Then Spurs fans applauded the cheers of the justified, those who have proven themselves, at least for one night.

The Spurs' 125-107 win over visiting Raptors was unequivocal. The Spurs gave the former DeRozan team and the new Leonard team. DeRozan's footprints were everywhere.

"It was fun – it was really fun," said DeRozan after achieving his first triple-double career in a masterful performance against his former team. "[Playing the Raptors] was not difficult at all. I was not nervous, it was really fun. Going out, having fun with old teammates, it was really fun. "

For DeRozan and for the Spurs. Leonard might be wondering what he's plunged into.

In a game where emotions were strong and attention focused to see who was going to react and how, the Raptors came out as if it was just another Thursday. Ho-hum, another night on TNT.

"It's frustrating just because [of the way] we play, "said Leonard. "His [like] any other game. We want to be better. We want the next game to be able to do the same thing every night we spend on this floor. We want to be a better team. We did not do a good job at all.

The Spurs Nation came ready to let off steam. Whatever Leonard did when leaving San Antonio, Spurs fans clearly took it personally.

One of the video clips of two long-time Spurs who helped the franchise win his last title was Leonard, hugging the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2014. Leonard was the most valuable player in the final.

They booed.

In another, he was diving for a bullet in the traffic.

They booed.

Whenever they showed his face, the exhausted crowd hoisted their broken hearts.

Danny Green? He did not have these problems. All the movements of the current Raptor and the old Spur were recorded on video and in real time he was applauded. They chanted his name during pre-match presentations.

Leonard was not so lucky. No – Vince Carter has not regained his rank of defenseman in the ranks of the ACC – but it may be difficult to be so agitated when your team has won five NBA titles.

Leonard claimed that this was planned and that he was not worried: "I kissed him and I enjoyed the moment and he will only make me better."

It is a cliché to say that there is electricity in the building at night, while pure pbadion overcomes the inevitable boredom that is part of a long schedule of 82 games.

But this one was beyond that.

It was a fallen high voltage line crisscrossing the sidewalk, sparks flying. But it was the Spurs who caught fire. The Raptors were only burned.

And in case anyone ever forget who was really right to offend the way everything went off-season, DeRozan made sure to call the whole planet back.

"I mean, you have to flourish in times like this," said DeRozan, who heard some "MVP" vocals during the match. "You have to love playing in this type of atmosphere, whether at home or on the road. It feeds you and lets you start. That's what makes it so much fun. "

The Raptors did the Leonard-DeRozan trade because they believed – and almost every statistical or anecdotal evidence would support this idea – that Leonard was getting the best player in the market, one of the best of all basketball.

This could be true.

But on Thursday in San Antonio, DeRozan was the player who mastered his game perfectly. He was the one who raised his teammates and levitated the building.

It was a spectacular sight and not at all unknown if it was that DeRozan became nuclear in silver and black, and not in red and black. He was brilliant, his 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 badists telling only part of the story.

He did his best work before half-time, becoming the first Spur to score at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five badists in the first 24 minutes since Tim Duncan, before reaching his statistical milestone in 10 years.

"I told him it was time," said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. "I did, I just told him, I said," It's time for you to have a triple-double. "

Answer the bell? That was the best first half – statistically – DeRozan could have played on the way to one of his most competitive games of all time. This is probably not a coincidence, although it was helped by a defensive approach to the Raptors – the Spurs fired 55.3% of the ground and 48.1% of the depths – this did not happen. has not been seen since LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers launched a sideline. against the Raptors in the playoffs. Only this time, DeRozan played LeBron.

At one point in the first quarter, DeRozan was naturally isolated by Serge Ibaka within the three-point line. The Raptors' all-time leading scorer trembled and set out, causing a foul on the part of Ibaka, after which DeRozan dropped a float that had gone so high that the balloon – even stopped at the top of the score to give the finger to anyone who thought that exchanging it was a good idea.

It was a deceptive throwing as paltry and arrogant as any dunk he could throw – though there was one so categorical.

But as DeRozan's game shouted rooftops, Leonard – the powerful silent – was struggling to find his voice. And even worse, his supportive cast – less Kyle Lowry, who missed his ninth game of his last ten games with a tasteless back – was not really a chorus.

The Spurs regularly sent two or three supporters to Leonard, knowing that no one had come forward to help him lift heavy loads. They wrapped up the pain and barely waved in front of the three point open shooters.

Why bother? The Raptors proved this year that they were not a dangerous three-point shooter – with 34.1% out of three, they rank 25th in the NBA – and against the Spurs, they were only 6 out of 30.

"To start the game, two, three, four, three big open ones come and go. They go down and get a three, one, three and one, and that's the recipe for disaster, "said Raptors leader Fred Van Vleet, who started in Lowry's place. "There are obviously other reasons why we need to improve and we will be dealing internally. But if you miss strokes and hit, it's as simple as that. "

The Raptors led 38-19 at the end of the first quarter and 50-25 at 8:19 to play second. They managed to reduce the deficit to 67-51 at the half, but the Spurs won 12-0 orchestrated by three other DeRozan helpers and all hope of return was largely shattered.

This is undoubtedly a sweet reward for DeRozan who said that before the game was traded in Toronto, it was like discovering that you were not going to marry the girl of your dreams. And this has surely been a justification for Spurs fans and their organization. Popovich called to be able to acquire DeRozan "a boon".

But for the Raptors, it was a disaster, or a regular season release. Part of their hiring argument with Leonard is that he came up with a franchise that is ready to win and win big. It is not encouraging to see that in the biggest game of the season, the one where the emotions were at the rendezvous, the Raptors fell flat.

Leonard was quite efficient, finishing with 21 points on 13 shots and adding five badists, but he was not helped. Lowry was not available to fight him and the recent history of the Machiavellian back of his future 33-year-old leader may not be the most encouraging sign to evaluate the Raptors in the short or long term. long-term success. Elsewhere, the Raptors looked like a team of role players who could not win. Even Green – hardened in action, playing in his gym at home – seemed hit because he missed his seven shots and managed to -26, the worst of the night.

Meanwhile, the Spurs (22-17) still looked fluid and well-oiled, a plug-and-play talent collection that made its mark for the 11th time in 14 games. Four starters collected more than 19 points while Rudy Gay had 13. Whenever he looked, DeRozan had an option and he took full advantage of it.

Leonard could only wish and all that Lowry had done was watch.

While Raptors fans will likely spend most of the season wondering if Leonard could stay, after a humiliating return to San Antonio, Leonard may wonder why he left and where he will go next.

As the clock came to the clock, the video card flashed to DeRozan, relaxing after a good night's work. He smiled He looked happy.