Slumping Raptors must tune defence to get back on track

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If you're restless and hungry for the NBA playoffs, the next five days of the Toronto Raptors schedule may serve as the late-afternoon snack that gets you through to dinner.

With a slim lead atop the Eastern Conference standing heading into their final seven contests of the regular season, the Raptors have three games against their two biggest conference foes in the next five days.

They've got two against the Boston Celtics – the second-place team, which sits just three games back – in Boston on Saturday and in Toronto on Wednesday. In between, the Raps will fly to Cleveland to tangle with the reigning Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers, the third-place squad sitting a deceptive 10 games back, but picking up major late-season momentum.

"No question, somebody chasing you, pushing you, you feel the footsteps behind you," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "I think it will help us going into the playoffs, that mentality, keeping that edge. I thought the last couple years we lost it a little bit. Even without that, we should be looking at the big picture and looking at something that is very important, which is the playoffs."

It will be a meaningful string of tests for a Toronto squad that has dipped somewhat in recent outings. The Raps have lost three of their past six games, a period in which their defensive rating plummeted to 29th in the NBA. It's a concerning drop for a squad that was fourth in the league in that category in February, and sixth on the season. That kind of defence won't cut it in the playoffs.

The Raps are 1-1 against both the Cavs and Celtics this season. They beat both soundly in the comforts of the Air Canada Centre, where the Raptors have lost only seven games this season. But they lost to both of those foes at their home courts.

Toronto will meet a Boston team that is without Kyrie Irving after the standout point guard underwent a minor knee surgery. But like the Cavs, the Celtics have won seven of their past 10 games. They'll face a Cleveland team that is thriving as it starts to gel with the pieces acquired at the trade deadline, including point guard George Hill, who while not lighting up the scoresheet makes the Cavs unquestionably better.

If Toronto loses in these coming games – especially head-to-head with Boston – its hold on the No.1 playoff seed becomes rather tenuous. Losses in those marquee games – with the curiosity they'll garner – could also dent the armour of Canada's only NBA team, one that will have to fight for league-wide respect yet again in its 10th trip to the postseason, which opens April 14. Despite holding the second-best record in the league, many still have a hard time taking the Raptors seriously as deep playoff contenders.

The 55-20 Raps need one more victory to match their franchise record for wins in a season, set in 2015-16. If they could reach 60 wins, they'd achieve something only 69 teams have done since the NBA began playing an 82-game schedule in the 1967-68 season. The NBA-leading Houston Rockets reached win No. 60 last Sunday, becoming just the 18th NBA team to do it in 74 games or fewer.

"I know people talk about the 60 wins. If we get it, that's great, obviously we're not going into any game trying to lose, but we want the one seed," Raptors reserve point guard Fred VanVleet said. "But more important than all of that stuff, we just want to be playing good basketball going into the postseason, feeling good about ourselves. We had a little slippage with the defence, then felt like the Denver game [on Tuesday] was a little better, and we've just got to keep trending upwards, and keep feeling good."

The Raptors must squeeze in a little more practice to tune the defence. They must win to maintain good habits, stave off sloppiness and maintain the top seed but they also have to prevent their stars from having to play too many minutes. Kyle Lowry had been enjoying a string of games with lower minutes, until the Raps had to increase the all-star point guard's play in recent games to help nab a few games they nearly lost.

"My minutes have gone up a little bit more, hopefully we can cut them back down the last couple of games," Lowry said. "I'm comfortable around that 32-minute mark, if we've got to build it up to 36, 37 we do it. I would like to keep it down until playoff time comes."

Of Toronto's final seven games, only one of them will be against a team already eliminated from playoff contention. The Indiana Pacers will be battling to move up and grab a top-four seed; and the Detroit Pistons may still be fighting for that final playoff spot. The Miami Heat, a possible first-round playoff opponent for Toronto, will be looking to plant some fears in the minds of the Raptors.

"The media gets a little carried away in these last few weeks getting ready for the playoffs, trying to make every game a Game 7," VanVleet said. "You guys just hang on a little bit. There will be some important games in a month."