Dwane Casey wants the Toronto Raptors to make a push for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“He wants us to embrace chasing after that top seed and that’s what we have to do,” said Kyle Lowry. “As a group, as a team we want to embrace it and go after it and we’re focused on being a better team. I think that’s one thing that coach really wants for us, is to be focused on that and to continue to reach for that goal.”

It is unusual for Casey to publicly state a team goal.

“It’s always a target to try and get to the top and beat who is in front of us,” said Casey. “That’s what we should be playing for and working every day to get better for and not be satisfied with anything, whether it’s pick-and-roll defence, offensive execution, points, numbers. Whatever it is, whatever the individual goals and accomplishments are, we can’t be satisfied because there are a lot of areas where we can get better.

“[But the No. 1 seed] is important. One is the pride goal, to be the conference champion is a goal you should always aspire for, to get to the top, to get home-court advantage, to be the No. 1 team in the conference. You still have to win no matter if you’re one, two or three [seed], but that’s our goal, we want to put the pressure on ourselves to try and get there and chase Boston, to catch Boston and if we get there to hold it.”