The San Antonio Spurs are currently locked in a battle in the Western Conference playoffs against the Denver Nuggets. The Spurs, who are the #7 seed in a stacked Western Conference, soundly defeated the second-seeded Nuggets in the first game of this series on the back of a balanced scoring attack and solid team defense – what one would expect from a Gregg Popovich-coached team. On Tuesday night, the Spurs vs. Nuggets was televised on NBA TV, and the teams were locked in a foul-filled contest that saw DeMar DeRozan pour in 17 first-half points against the Nugs.

Despite that, DeRozan was upset with himself early in the first quarter after he picked up two quick fouls against Denver. DeRozan was so upset, in fact, that he decided to tear his jersey asunder after having to be taken out of the game due to those fouls.

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DeRozan has had notable playoff failures in his storied NBA career, though most of them came as a member of the Toronto Raptors.

Though these playoffs are chock-full of storylines for all teams involved, perhaps the most interesting one for the Spurs is the potential playoff renaissance of DeRozan, who has severely underwhelmed as a member of the Raptors.

In his first playoff game with the Spurs, he led his team to victory and also led the team in points (18), rebounds (12) and assists (6). That’s a fairly auspicious start for a player that has long been deemed a “choker” in the East.