With three games to spare, the Toronto Raptors have put the Eastern Conference title to bed. Their 57th victory of the season, a franchise record, clinched the number one seed and home court advantage going into the playoffs, if they so happen to advance past the 2nd round. From the sounds of it, Demar Derozan and his cohorts are certainly gritting their teeth.
“We did that. Now, we’ve got another goal that we want to reach as well. So this gives us the confidence that we can do it and take it to another level.”
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As Demar has mentioned, the team will need to find an extra gear to correct past mistakes. Questions of reliability fall squarely on Demar and teammate Kyle Lowry who are the principle ball handlers and shot takers respectively. The raptors were largely overlooked by pundits in the offseason as a team that had reach its ceiling as a group. Dwane Casey and his staff felt differently opting to change the team's offence to a more modernized system built on perimeter shooting and efficiency.