A command not to emulate pagans comes right after laws against eating blood. That's probably not a coincidence. There's a lot of blood involved in Temple worship.

The temptation to ritualize the consumption of blood in the context of religious sacrifices must be huge! (If you doubt me, consider the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.) But we are commanded not to worship our God the way pagans worship theirs. Drinking blood dishonors both God and the animal (or man) from which it came.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31