San Antonio Spurs shooting guard DeMar DeRozan put up 25 points in his second return to Toronto to help the Spurs defeat the Raptors by one point.

After the game, DeRozan was in the spotlight with the media up in Canada and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had some fun with his star:

DeMar DeRozan is playing some of the best basketball of his career lately, and the All-Star says power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is a big reason why.

Aldridge’s emergence as a perimeter threat has opened up the floor for DeRozan and the Spurs. As a result, DeRozan is scoring the ball at will lately since there are so many driving lanes for him to attack.

Over his last eight games, Aldridge is averaging 17.8 points and 8.6 rebounds. More importantly for the Spurs, Aldridge is shooting an impressive 55.8 percent from beyond the arc.

By bringing his defender out to the perimeter, Aldridge is opening up the paint and mid-range for DeRozan. The Spurs are seeing the best version of DeRozan in a San Antonio uniform as a result.

DeRozan averaged 29.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists as the Spurs went 3-1 last week. He was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.

Overall on the season for the Spurs, DeRozan is averaging 22.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 38 games while shooting 53.5 percent from the field, 32.0 percent from beyond the arc and 82.7 percent from the free-throw line.

While there has been talk that San Antonio could move DeRozan or Aldridge if the team can’t climb up the Western Conference standings before the NBA’s February trade deadline, it appears the Spurs are beginning to turn a corner. They are 3-1 in their last four games and now sit in the ninth spot in the West standings.