Dwane Casey has spoken more than once this week about these being the dog days of the NBA season.
Casey’s Raptors play their 60th game of the season tonight, with the Atlanta Hawks visiting the Air Canada Centre. The playoff picture isn’t cemented yet, but the Raptors are comfortably in second-place in the Eastern Conference with a 4.5-game lead over third-place Boston and the Hawks sitting in fifth, seven games back of Toronto.
This is the prime place for complacency to slide in. Casey addressed that Tuesday morning, pointing out how his team’s defensive efficiency has slipped through February and March.