Pistons' Casey relishing possibility of meeting Raptors in playoffs

The inherent poetry of a potential first-round matchup between the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors is not lost on Pistons head coach Dwane Casey.

"It would mean a lot," Casey told The Athletic's Joe Vardon on Friday. "This is a storied franchise in Detroit. There are three championship trophies you see every time you walk into the building. It’s not like in Toronto, where they’ve never tasted it. The fans in Detroit, they know what a championship is all about, and it’s like, let’s get this thing back on track."

Casey, of course, shepherded the Raptors to a franchise-record 320 regular-season wins and five straight playoff appearances. Still, a string of deflating postseason exits ultimately resulted in the 61-year-old's dismissal last summer.

To face Toronto with his new team would offer Casey an opportunity for personal and professional redemption, a rebuke of the Raptors' commitment to starting fresh with his former assistant coach, Nick Nurse.

If the NBA season ended Monday, the No. 6 Pistons would face the No. 3 Indiana Pacers in the first round. With the Raptors two games behind the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and five games ahead of the Pacers, they're virtually locked into the No. 2 seed.

The Eastern Conference standings are far from set, however. The Pistons still have 20 games left to cement their placement, including their third and final matchup with the Raptors on Mar. 17. Detroit has won both previous games against Toronto this season.