With their run to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final last spring, Raptors guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry received a detailed education in playoff basketball. Now, as a new season approaches, DeRozan and Lowry hope they'll get a shot to finish at the top of the NBA heap and earn that coveted class ring. Five years after going 22-60, the Raptors won a franchise-record 56 games last season and captured their third straight Atlantic Division title. "It taught us a lot about our basketball abilities," Lowry said of the deepest post-season run in Raptors history. Both Lowry and DeRozan struggled offensively at times during the playoffs, but each battled through tough stretches to provide key performances later on.

Source: CBC News September 26, 2016 22:18 UTC