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TORONTO, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- DeMar DeRozan of Toronto Raptors scored 34 points in Friday night's 96-87 victory against Miami Heat to extend his streak of 30 or more points to a franchise-record five straight games.
The 27-year-old forward surpassed the previous team-best of four straight games held by ex-Raptor Mike James in 2005.
The two-time All Star has carried the momentum from winning a gold medal in the recent Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro into a scorching start to the season where he is leading the league in scoring with 35.8 points in the team's first five games. He becomes the first Raptors player since Vince Carter at the beginning of the 2003 season to lead the league in scoring.
More impressively, the last player to begin a season with five straight games of 30 or more points was the legendary Michael Jordan, who opened the 1986 season with six consecutive games.
"Those are big names. I think DeMar is still evolving, I'm not going to put that kind of pressure on him." said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey following the game. "If you can call his name in that group of people, he's doing something special."
Since being selected by Raptors with the 9th pick in 2009 NBA Draft, the native of Los Angeles has improved in each of his first seven seasons. Last year, he set career highs in most offensive categories, including points per game, free throws made, free throws attempted and three point percentage.
Having coached the DeRozan for the past five seasons, Casey believes there are still elements to of his game that can still grow.
"He's still evolving as a player with his three-ball, his ball handing and his defence," said Casey.
Through five games, DeRozan is on pace to set new per game career highs in points (35.8), field goals made (14.0), field goals attempted (25.4), field goal percentage (55.1), free throws made (7.6), free throws attempted (9.0) and rebounds (5.0).
