DeMar DeRozan Stayed at Arena Until 1 a.m. to Prepare for LeBron in Game 4

DeMar DeRozan took nearly 1,000 shots at the arena until 1 a.m. to prepare for LeBron James.

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DeMar DeRozan "had a feeling" LeBron James was going to guard him in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. So, DeRozan felt like he needed to be at the top of his game, according to cleveland.com sources. What did that entail? Oh, just about two and a half hours of additional work and nearly 1,000 shots. To make it happen DeRozan stayed at the Air Canada Centre until 1 a.m.

Despite sources saying otherwise, DeRozan has shot down any speculation that he took these measures in preparation for The King. "It's nothing new for me. You can ask anybody in this organization," DeRozan told cleveland.com. "There's not a night that I don't come back in the gym and try to work on something and get better on something. It's nothing new."

Following the Toronto Raptors' 102-96 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Kyle Lowry was seen hoisting up shots well after 1 a.m.

However, this was coming off a miserable performance by Lowry in which he scored just seven points on 3-for-13 shooting. In Game 3 of the ECF, the Raptors star shooting guard had one of his best games of the entire postseason, scoring 32 points. While DeRozan will not openly admit that spent more time on his shot in anticipation for getting guarded by James, it's clear that the hard work paid off.

The six-year veteran scored 32 points for a second consecutive game but more importantly, tied up the series which comes back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday.  

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