Raptors will use early start time as motivation

Dwane Casey said the Toronto Raptors would be ready to play "at six o'clock in the morning" if the schedule so demanded.

But the Raptors coach believes his team deserves better.

The Raptors were slotted into the 12:30 p.m. tipoff time for Saturday's playoff series opener against the visiting Indiana Pacers proof, says Casey, that the team has yet to receive respect from league schedulers it deserves.

"Evidently someone doesn't respect us," Casey said Thursday. "We have all these 12:30 p.m. games and they look at us, the team north of the border that plays the early games when the people out west are still asleep. We'll use that as a little motivation too."

If the Raptors are truly Canada's team, their west coast fanswill have to tune in at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Bycomparison, GoldenState hosts Houston at 12:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, whileMemphis hosts San Antonioat noon local time in Game 4 on Apr. 24.The next earliest games are Golden State in Houston at 2:30 localtime on April 24, and the Raptors' game in Indiana at 3 p.m. ET onApril 23.

The Raptors opened the previous two series at 12:30 p.m. as well, last year against Washington and the previous year versus Brooklyn.

"I don't know the reasoning why we've been put in that position," Casey said. "We're the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference. We feel like we should have a premiere time slot. ...We feel like we have an exciting team and we've earned the right by winning 56 games to be a primetime game."

Casey said the early tipoff time, from a preparation position, is not his "first choice," but the players can use it as a chip on their collective shoulders.

"We have to earn respect," he said. "We've done that all year and we have to continue to do it all year, we have to earn the respect of the league to prove we are who we are and our record is what it is."

Toronto baseball fans were outraged when the Blue Jays made their first playoff appearance in 22 years last season, and were slotted into afternoon start times. Their beef was more about the fact they were weekday games, so many people had to beg off work to watch.

The Raptors have more reasonable tipoff times for the remainder of the series. They host Indiana in Game 2 on Monday at 7 p.m. The series moves to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and 3 p.m. Saturday, April 23. Game times for 5, 6 and 7, if necessary, are to be determined.