For Raptors, it's going to be all about the opening minutes

The imperatives heading into tonight’s Game 5 are pretty obvious for the Raptors:

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are all-stars, and have to start playing like it;

Luis Scola’s presence in the starting lineup makes less and less sense (and while we’re on the subject, Patrick Patterson is no fan of starting);

Make some open 3-pointers to free up the floor in particular for the two all-stars, keep JV out of foul trouble and scoring; Masai Ujiri's get out of work early slip; etc.

Maybe the most important thing is fundamental. None of those changes will matter if the Raptors come out as soft defensively as they did starting Saturday’s Game 4 in Indianapolis, wherein the Pacers hit five of their first six shots, the last two baskets being lay-ups. They weren’t much better with the ball, and they never did make shots, but it was that lack of intensity on defence that to me was the biggest head-scratcher and the greatest indictment.

This is the Raptors’ third trip to the playoffs in a row, after all -- more than enough time for figuring out how different an environment they are. You will miss shots. You will turn the ball over now and then. But you cannot be unready, as the Raptors appeared most of the way in Game 1 -- I put that down to six weeks of playing mix-and-match with their lineup going in, then suddenly being confronted by an honest-to-goodness playoff-minted stud in Paul George -- and inexplicably, on Saturday, when it was Ian Mahinmi playing the role of slayer. All it took was six years, 53 games and a Raptor matchup for Mahinmi to record his first 20-point game in the playoffs.

But maybe this is not a playoff phenomenon at all. Toronto’s actually been a poor team starting games all season long, particularly defensively, and the trend has been telling this series. In both wins this series, they were up early and looking comfortable from the start -- in the other two, and particularly on Saturday, it wasn’t so. Tinkering with the starters is one thing, and the playoffs are full of such adjustments, but changing your m.o. is quite another -- that latter proposition, even for a 56-win team, is what has to be in order if the Raptors are to wrest control back and avoid sending the city into its usual state of high anxiety. Old pal Doug Smith put it best:

That makes this Game 5, with its supper-hour tip-off, a pretty easy proposition:

If they’re ahead early at the first TV timeout, order in. If they’re trailing, make reservations.