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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - It wasn't long ago that just about every Raptors fan found themselves consulting ESPN's trade machine in the hopes of finding an upgrade for Toronto's struggling bench, a unit that did not inspire much confidence, one that was even beginning to worry Dwane Casey.

"We've got to have some support from our second unit," the head coach had said after a loss in Chicago late last month. "Whatever we've got to do to get ourselves mentally ready to play off the bench, we've got to have that. The starters can't go the whole time. We've got to have a plus, a boost off the bench."

Message received. The next day, Patrick Patterson, Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross and Bismack Biyombo - the team's four primary reserves - were among the last five players in the gym after practice, getting shots up and working on their games. Patterson took responsibility for the previous night's loss on behalf of the entire second unit. "We were the sole reason why we lost that game," he told reporters.

While adding another piece or two ahead of next month's trade deadline may still make sense for a team shooting its way up the Eastern Conference standings and aspiring to make some noise in the playoffs, a move to bolster the bench doesn't seem nearly as pressing.

The Raptors are surging right now, having won eight straight games for only the second time in franchise history. They're also creeping up on the first-place Cavaliers, now 2.0 games back. Although Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will get the bulk of the credit, justifiably so, none of that would be possible without the strong play of their supporting cast.

Through the first 32 games of the campaign, Toronto's bench had out-scored opposing reserves just 12 times. Since then, they've done so in 10 of 12 games, culminating in their most impressive performance to date, a season-high 51 points on Sunday.

"It just feels good," Patterson said following his team's 112-94 victory over the Clippers, a mid-season statement game against a club that had won 12 of its last 14 contests. "Everyone's on the same page, everyone's focused and just having fun."

"I think tonight was probably one of our best games collectively as a second unit."

Despite their recent success, most of it against sub-.500 competition, this was to be the Raptors biggest test since dropping a pair of games to Chicago and Cleveland earlier in January. With the Clippers on fire early, Toronto quickly fell behind by 13 before Casey turned to his reserves.

"I thought [Joseph] and that second unit came in and changed the game," he said. "I thought that second unit had a togetherness and a rhythm, a continuity going that we’re going to need as we go down the road."

That group helped engineer a 25-3 run and the team never looked back from there. All season long, that had been one of their regular shortcomings - putting teams away, even the bad ones, and manufacturing late-game rest for their starters. With Toronto up by as many as 23, DeRozan and Lowry sat and watched for the final four minutes. Finally, they were able to put their foot on somebody's throat and it came against, of all teams, the red-hot Clippers.

Seven players scored in double figures, including four off the bench. Ross - a plus-25 in 33 minutes - poured in 18 points to lead the way. Joseph had 12 points and was a plus-33 in 22 minutes while Patterson and Biyombo each scored 10 and were plus-31 in 27 minutes and plus-24 in 22 minutes respectively.

"It was big," DeRozan said. "This whole week and a half the bench has been great for us. We’ve been taking advantage of it and it’s been great having that balance that we’ve been able to sustain throughout these last few games."

"I think guys have settled," Lowry added. "Kind of the last month there have been guys that know their rotations know their roles, understand when they are going to go into the game."

That may be the most overlooked factor. Injuries had forced Casey's hand and as a result his rotation was in flux throughout most of the season's first half. Biyombo stepped in for Jonas Valanciunas when he missed 17 games with a broken hand. Ross bounced back and forth from the starting lineup and the bench when DeMarre Carroll first went down with his knee contusion. Joseph was playing more than ever before and probably more than expected as Patterson, the intended starter in training camp, was coming to terms with his new role, which is actually his old role.

By necessity, they were using a ton of different lineups and on top of that lack of continuity - which is tough for most teams to overcome, in and of itself - Casey was still learning how to best utilize his roster, a very different group than he had last year. Gone are Sixth Man winner Lou Williams, the team's third-leading scorer last year, and Greivis Vasquez, who were sacrificed for the sake of improving the defence. With that came a significant drop off in offence from the second unit. The Raptors were third in bench scoring last season. This year they're 28th, only the Pistons and Heat average less. They've been much better in that regard of late, scoring 40 or more points in three of their last six games, something they had done just twice to that point.

Ross and Patterson, two of the team's X-factors, are starting to heat up after struggling with their jump shots early in the campaign. Casey, along with both players themselves, have a simple explanation for that: their shots are finally starting to fall and, obviously, there's something to that, but there's more. Both seem more confident, each of them are putting the ball on the floor, making plays for themselves and others while appearing to be more engaged on the defensive end.

Joseph is also starting to come around again, looking more like the early-season version after a chest cold set him back in December. As for Biyombo, a decrease in playing time following the return of Valanciunas hasn't affected his trademark effort, energy and defensive presence one iota.

And that's the most important thing for this whole group: defence. Even before this recent stretch of improved offence, even with them ranked towards the bottom of the league in scoring, they've still been effective because of their defensive prowess. Toronto's bench ranks fourth in net rating, meaning only three teams - Atlanta, Golden State and San Antonio's historically excellent second unit - are out-scoring opposing reserves more per 100 possessions.

Casey has found a method to get the most out of their ability and mitigate their weaknesses and, most importantly, he's been consistent with it. With the bench's offensive deficiencies in mind, one of Lowry or DeRozan is always out there with the four reserves. The Raptors have been using the end of the first quarter to buy Lowry some rest while DeRozan is on the floor, then Lowry takes his place and starts the second quarter with the same group. The versatility of all four subs allow Casey to pull this off without any drop off defensively. In fact, those two lineups - Lowry with the subs and DeRozan with the subs - have been two of their best over the winning streak.

Carroll has been out for three weeks and isn't expected back anytime soon. No one could have anticipated them doing this well without him, given his importance on both ends of the floor, but for the first time all season there's some sense of continuity in the rotation and that's helped a great deal.

"You pretty much know the rotation," Patterson said. "If there's uncertainty there's a lack of energy, a lack of confidence, you tend to get frustrated, but now that you know when you're coming in, when you're coming out, who you're going to be in the game with everyone's just more comfortable out there."