Many people expected the Toronto Raptors to be a very good team this season, especially after some of the additions they made. The Raptors' biggest addition was signing DeMarre Carroll this offseason, but he has brought virtually nothing to the table. Despite Carroll's lack of impact the Raptors are having a great season and seem to be safely in the playoffs.
The Raptors have made it to the playoffs in each of their last two seasons but were eliminated in the first round both times despite being the higher seed in each series. This season Toronto is trying to escape the notion that they are not a team built to perform in the playoffs, and they look like they should be able to do so.
The Raptors are 9.5 games ahead of the ninth place team, so they have a pretty comfortable cushion to make the playoffs, and they are also 4.5 games ahead of the three seed (the Raptors are currently number two), so they like where they are at. With that in mind the Raptors' primary concern moving forward is ensuring that their stars, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, are healthy for the postseason. To that end the Raptors are considering resting Lowry and DeRozan at points during the rest of the regular season.
Lowry rested in the Raptors' last game against the Pistons on Sunday, a game they lost, and that may become a more regular occurrence for both he and DeRozan. The idea of rest was a collaborative process between the coaches, the training staff and the players themselves with the long view as the most important thing here. On the season Lowry is averaging 37 minutes per game while DeRozan is averaging 36.1 minutes per game. Those are by far the two highest numbers of anyone on the team.
The idea of rest usually comes into play when everything is clinched and there is nothing left to play for. That does not happen to be the case with the Raptors though. Toronto seems like a lock to be the two seed in the Eastern Conference at worst, but they have a realistic shot at being the top seed in the East. The Raptors are just 2.5 games behind Cleveland, and getting home court should be important to them considering how good their crowd is, especially come playoff time.
If the Raptors were to meet the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals they would want as many advantages as possible in that series. The Cavaliers would come in as huge favorites so home court advantage could end up being a huge deal for the Raptors. If they rest DeRozan and Lowry for multiple games down the stretch home court advantage likely goes out the window. Keeping Lowry and DeRozan healthy and fresh is a huge key for the Raptors but they shouldn't throw away the chance to get home court advantage while doing so.
