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“I’m feeling fresh. I’m feeling good. At the same time, when I’m playing a lot of minutes I get a little bit of a rhythm.”

And therein lies the rub as it has certainly been the case in the past: More minutes = more Lowry production and more Raptors victories.

But if the franchise has reached the point where all that matters is what transpires in the playoffs, the current practice of sitting Lowry more than he might like will have to continue for a few more months.

Head coach Dwane Casey seems prepared for that juggling act.

There will be some nights where Lowry will be asked to do more, but as long as the wear and tear is managed better than it has been in the past, everybody will be happy.

“Nobody’s really playing huge minutes,” Casey said recently.

“Now, we’re going to have the right to extend those minutes if we need Kyle Lowry or we need DeMar DeRozan in a game but we don’t want to make it habit.”

So far, they haven’t had to.

DEROZAN GIVEN MAINTENANCE DAY

DeMar DeRozan got a day off from practice while his teammates were put through the paces on Monday.

There’s no need to panic, though.

The three-time all-star was merely given a maintenance day after banging his knee late in Saturday’s trip-concluding win at Atlanta.

“He didn’t go today because we’re watching his knee,” head coach Dwane Casey explained.

Casey said swingman C.J. Miles was back practising following the birth of his first child and injured point guard Delon Wright was at least in practice gear dribbling a basketball, the first sign his recovery is on track, though a return isn’t close.

After a hectic start to the season, Toronto will now get a large dose of practice time and days off between games, something Casey said will allow the players to deal with some nagging injuries that have been collected so far.

It also will allow Casey and his staff to experiment with different lineups during scrimmages, furthering the pursuit of finding the optimal groups for games.

rwolstat@postmedia.com