Raptors facing teams on the playoff bubble
TORONTO — It is far too early for the Toronto Raptors to start thinking seriously about firstround playoff matchups, because a third of the regular season remains to be played and the possibilities are practically endless. Still, it is not too early to think they can have something to say about the final couple of Eastern Conference playoff spots. Beginning with Monday’s home game against Detroit — the first of three against the Pistons jammed into the final 24 games of the season — Toronto will face half of the teams jockeying for the seventh and eighth places in the conference. While they are done their season series with both Milwaukee and Philadelphia, they have two games left with fifth place Indiana, three with the ninth place Pistons, and finish the regular season with a game in Miami against the Heat, who currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot. That is enough to have an impact on first-round matchups, whether or not the Raptors hold on to first overall in the conference, and adds a sense of urgency to those games. “We’re going to get everyone’s best game,” coach Dwane Casey said. The Pistons made a bold move trying to secure a playoff spot earlier this month when they acquired Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers for two key rotation members in Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley along with Boban Marjanovic. It was a gamble pairing Griffin with Andre Drummond in the East’s biggest frontcourt so late in the season with so much at stake. Detroit hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008 and has only made two appearances — both sweeps at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers since then. Picking up Griffin and asking him to mesh with a new team and take it to the playoffs in less than half a season is a tall order. It hasn’t gone particularly well with Detroit 2 ½ games out of the eighth and final post-season slot in the East before Monday’s game in Toronto. Still, they are a formidable frontcourt that should eventually become a force. “I think they have done a pretty decent job bringing him in,” Raptors forward Pascal Siakam said of Griffin. “I think he’s having fun over there with Drummond. They are definitely tough guys to guard.” Said Casey: “He gives them an all-star. He gives them a very dynamic power forward who can make shots on his own, create shots, get to the rim. … He and Drummond have a pretty good chemistry with each other as far as the high-low, sort of like what he had with Jordan in Clipper land. He adds a dynamic, very versatile power forward to their team that you have to game plan for.” Getting many of the Raptors to discuss long-term implications is basically futile. They remain laser-focused on what they do, regardless of what it means to other teams or what fans might be looking at. “Honestly, I’m not a standings guy,” forward C.J. Miles said recently. “Like, when people ask me, I’ve got to go look. I know, obviously, what we’re doing, because we talk about it every day and it’s talked about every day, but for the most part, I don’t dwell on it. “I’m more so worried about what’s going on in our circle, and I know if we take care of what we’re supposed to take care of, we’ll do what we’re supposed to do.”