The races: Miami, Toronto could collide

A weekly look at the NBA’s Eastern Conference and the potential playoff matchups for the Toronto Raptors:

They lurk in the middle of the Eastern Conference pack, retooled and concerned about long-term health rather than short-term games, a team Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey terms “formidable” because of its “championship pedigree.”

The Miami Heat, currently chasing Boston for third in the East, may not be in the mix as a possible first-round opponent for the Raptors when the playoffs open in just more than a month but they will be on everyone’s mind if things unfold as expected.

The addition of Joe Johnson has given Miami another proven scorer and playoff veteran and created another layer of dangerous possible matchups.

“I think we’re an unpredictable team as far as who’s going to score the basketball,” Johnson said after Miami’s loss to Toronto on Saturday night. “We’re not predictable in who’s going to have a big night. We’ve got a lot of guys that are very versatile, who make plays offensively and defensively. So I think it takes pressure off of everybody.”

And it puts pressure on teams in the same layer as Miami in the standings. Cleveland and Toronto have separated themselves at the top, while the group of Boston, Miami, Charlotte and Atlanta seems to be creating some separation of their own from Indiana, Detroit, Chicago and a fastfading Washington.

If the Heat can sneak into third, that would put them on a collision course with Toronto in a potential secondround series. There is lots of basketball still to be played, of course, but the Heat are showing signs of life when they know it’s most important.

“I think if we figure out the right mentality and the right approach,” Goran Dragic said, “we can beat anybody.”

A look the potential first-round opponents for the Raptors (if the season ended today, Toronto would face seventh-place Indiana):

Atlanta (38-29)

Wednesday at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Denver, 8 p.m.

Indiana (35-31)

Tuesday vs. Boston, 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Toronto, 7 p.m. Saturday vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Detroit (34-32)

Monday at Washington, 8 p.m. Wednesday vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Friday vs. Sacramento, 7:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Brooklyn, 7 p.m.

Chicago (32-32)

Monday at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Washington, 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Brooklyn, 8 p.m. Saturday vs. Utah, 8 p.m.

Washington (30-35)

Monday vs. Detroit, 8 p.m. Wednesday vs. Chicago, 7 p.m. Thursday at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Saturday, New York, 7 p.m.