MINNEAPOLIS—They have been taught not to look ahead to the next game, because the one immediately in front of them is always the most important, and the Raptors have taken that to heart.
But dangle the prospects of an unprecedented break and their eyes light up.
“I ain’t going to lie. I’m trying not to look at it right now, but these next three days will be amazing, seriously amazing,” workhorse point guard Kyle Lowry said here Wednesday morning.
After facing the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, the Raptors will not play again until they host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Even factoring in the Christmas break, it’s the longest they’ve gone without a game this season and, aside from a break in early March, their longest idle time the entire season.
For guys like Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, whose summers were spent with the United States Olympic team, not having games is a welcome respite. There will be practices, but no flights, no hotels, no game intensity to deal with.
“After the conference finals I had two weeks off, and then after (the Olympics) I think I probably took three weeks off total,” Lowry said.
The Raptors won’t be sitting around their houses and condos eating snack food and playing video games for their break, of course. Coaches love time during the season to practise and Toronto is scheduled to work Thursday and Saturday heading into the Pistons game, despite the dreams of the players.
“Who knows? Case is a new man. He might give us three days off,” Lowry joked.
But coach Dwane Casey has been around long enough to understand that springing a brutal three-hour practice on his team at this point of the season is counter-productive.
“It’s a balance, but it’s something, at this time of year, you’ve got to do,” Casey said. “I think for us, it’s repetition more so than the intensity. Repetitions and recreating our habits are far more important than anything else.
“Again, this time of year you can’t have long, drawn-out practices, but you can get them quick and get your repetitions in more than anything.”
The repetitions will be aimed at getting DeRozan and Patrick Patterson back in sync with their teammates. Both have missed enough time with injuries that it’s going to take some time to get them fully back up to speed.
“Everybody says ‘Okay, you’re getting healthy’ again, but those healthy guys have to get their rhythm back, so it’s always a two-edged sword with that,” Casey said.
“With DeMar and Patrick coming back, getting those guys back, getting them back in a rhythm, getting them used to getting banged and hit and the speed of the game, is going to be important for us.”
The Raptors, who began play Wednesday night in a fight with Boston, Atlanta, Washington and Indiana for second through sixth in the East — only four games separated No. 2 Boston from No. 6 Indiana — know how important getting ready for the stretch run is.
“I think we’ve got 29 games, 28 games to go, so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Casey said. “We’ve gotta start making some hay, getting together, getting our consistency, most of all getting healthy (and) getting our rhythm back . . . and go forward.”
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