TORONTO - On Saturday afternoon, less than three years after winning an unlikely championship together in Dallas, Dwane Casey and Jason Kidd will sit on opposite ends of the Air Canada Centre sideline, getting set to make their postseason debut as head coaches. Authentic Jaccob Slavin Jersey . Just ahead of tip-off, as their teams stretch, shoot around and a sellout crowd - draped in white - files into the building, the two coaches will meet at centre court. Theyll shake hands, exchange a few words then return to their respective benches in the hopes of sending the other home for an early summer vacation. They havent spoken since finding out that the Raptors and Nets would face off in round one of the Eastern Conference playoffs, which isnt to say theres a lack of mutual respect between the two. On the contrary, theres actually a whole lot of it. Friendship is for the offseason, Casey always boasts. Until then, these former colleagues have a job to do, and theyre in each others way. Theyve traveled down dissimilar paths to get to this point. Casey, who celebrated his 57th birthday on Thursday, has been coaching in the NBA for over two decades. After serving as a long-time assistant under George Karl in Seattle, he spent a couple seasons as the head man with the Timberwolves, where he coached Nets veteran and future hall of famer Kevin Garnett. In 2011, his third season as Rick Carlisles lead assistant in Dallas, Casey helped guide the experienced Mavericks to an unexpected championship, with Kidd starting at point guard. Kidd, now 41, was in season 17 of his illustrious 19-year career. He was a retired NBA player for 10 days before becoming a head coach this past summer. "First of all, I texted him and [asked] him if hes lost his mind," Casey joked, asked about Kidds move to the bench earlier this season. The Nets controversial decision to hand the reins over to Kidd, fresh off his final campaign in New York, was met with more criticism than any coaching hire in recent memory. When his first season as a bench boss got off to a rocky start many called for his head, but he had a steadfast supporter in Casey, who knew it was only a matter of time before Kidd and his veteran Nets team rocketed back to top of the East. "Hes going to be a good coach because he was a computer on the floor and he just has to transfer that to his players," Casey said ahead of a late November meeting between the two teams. The Nets were 3-10 going into that game. "It takes time." "Hes one of the toughest minded guys Ive been around and Ive coached, and Ive been around some strong minded guys, but he was definitely one of them," Casey added prior to their next meeting, two months later. The Nets, 10-21 on Jan. 1, had won five in a row before losing in Toronto that night. "I knew mentally he was going to stay strong and stay into it and it would be a matter of time." Brooklyn would go on to finish the campaign with the second best record among Eastern Conference teams in 2014 and Kidd became a two-time Coach of the Month winner. As Casey met with the media Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before Game 1, the Raptors coach was caught off guard when one reporter pointed out that he and Kidd would be sharing their playoff head coaching debuts. "I never thought about that," he said in earnest, but hes not the least bit surprised to see his counterpart in the position that hes in. "Jason was always a step ahead of the curve," said Casey, the Easts Coach of the Month for December. "I think point guards are coaches on the floor, they should be. Theyve gone through their whole career figuring out things on the fly, on the court. So I think thats the difference in Jason. Jason has been a thinker his whole career and hes doing a good job with Brooklyn." For these old friends, this series should turn into something of a chess match. The Nets rookie coach has a veteran-laden roster at his disposal. A big factor in his teams 2014 reversal of fortunes has been Kidds commitment to a small lineup, starting a couple of point guards in the backcourt and using Paul Pierce as their mobile, perimeter-oriented power forward. "I think they established an identity, much like we did," Casey told TSN.ca in an exclusive conversation Friday. "I think putting Pierce at the four position was a huge turnaround for them. Solidifying the smaller lineup really helped them." Casey has the benefit of a versatile roster. With Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, the Raptors can go against the grain and put pressure on the visiting Nets with a size and strength advantage or they can match-up using their own version of the small lineup. "Philosophy is personnel driven," Casey wisely pointed out. With Johnson and Patrick Patterson - two versatile forwards who can rebound and also step out and defend on the perimeter - Torontos coach is confident his team can utilize both their small and big units with success in this series. "Its going to be huge," he said of that versatility. "If we stay big weve got to really pound the boards and take advantage of it if they stay small but at the same time theyre such a lethal three-point shooting team. Its hard for our bigs, with our mentality to get out and guard the three-point line in those situations so were going to have to figure that out as far as when we do go small, who has the advantage. If we have an advantage on the boards or inside well try to do that but if were getting killed with three-point shooting then well have to make some adjustments." Caseys quiet confidence and poise has rubbed off on his team all season but those characteristics have never been more important than they are now. By now youve heard of their inexperience, Caseys embraced it because, what choice does he have? They cant pretend like theyve been somewhere they havent, they wont pretend to be something theyre not. If you want to count them out because of it, Casey understands, but he doesnt advise it. "I dont want to diminish [experience], its very important," he said. "In any walk of life its important if youre going to do a job at a high level to have as much experience as you can possibly have. We are who we are, we cant change it. The way our guys get experience is to go through this. But at the end of the day you still have to go out and play the game. Theres been a lot of young teams that beat older teams in the history of the game and were ready for that challenge. I think were better with a chip on our shoulder, being the desperate team. I think we struggle when were the favourite so I like that part about it. I dont even talk about it to our players, about experience. Hey, they dont know any better, so lets go play the game." Authentic Teuvo Teravainen Jersey . And while taking highly-touted Simon Fraser offensive lineman Matthias Goossen second overall on Tuesday night will definitely help in an area of need for the club, it was a swap of draft picks that may prove to be his most shrewd move. "When Jesse Briggs started to fall a little bit, you could just see Kyle perk up in his chair. Authentic Brett Pesce Jersey . Groves signed with Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent last year after a season with Arizona. He was in the linebacker rotation and had a sack in the season opener against Miami.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks watched as their championship banner rose to the rafters at the United Center. They took another look at the Stanley Cup, and soaked in the applause from the sellout crowd. Then Johnny Oduya and Co. went out and reminded the rest of the NHL how they won that title. Oduya, Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa scored in the third period, and the Blackhawks kicked off their title defence with a 6-4 victory over Mikhail Grabovski and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. "We wanted a good start. I think we got that," Oduya said. "Maybe in the second we came down a little bit, the win is the key thing to that, and to keep building on that. Theres a lot of games this year, so weve got to stay strong and get better." Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Brandon Bollig also scored for Chicago, which won its first game for the second straight season. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, including a couple of huge stops when the Blackhawks killed off a late 5-on-3 power play. Chicago ruined Los Angeles title celebration with a 5-2 victory in last seasons opener and then set an NHL record by recording at least one point in its first 24 games. The fast start played a key role in the Blackhawks run to the Stanley Cup, and coach Joel Quenneville made it clear in training camp that another opening surge is a priority. "The guys have always been in a good place since Day 1 of the season," Quenneville said. "Youve got to commend them on how they prepared themselves." Grabovski had three goals and an assist in his first game since he signed with Washington in August. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, but the Capitals dropped their opener for the second straight season. "They got a little bit lucky today," Grabovski said. "We need to learn from our mistakes what we did. We just need to play better the next game." Grabovski had consecutive power-play goals in the third, lifting Washington to a 3-2 lead with 14:44 left. But Saad finished a beautiful give-and-go with Michal Handzus, and Oduya converted a long slap shot at 13:53 to put the Blackhawks ahead to stay. Oduya caught a fortunate break on his 32nd birthday when his fluttering shot went in off the glove of goalie Braden Holtby on its way to the net. "It just completely fooled me," Holtby said. "I had a clean llook at the shot, it was just one of those sinkers. Authentic Justin Williams Jersey. It happened. It was one I would love to have, but I think there are a couple of others in the game that I should have done a better job on, more than that one." Hossa finished the scoring when he was dragged down from behind as he skated toward an empty net in the final minute, prompting the officials to award him with an insurance goal. Cheered on by the rollicking crowd of 22,158, the Blackhawks staged one last celebration of the franchises fifth title. The team handed out special wristbands that lit up during parts of the pregame ceremony, making the rows of seats look like a clear night sky full of stars. The wristband lights were joined by camera flashes as a group of youth hockey players presented the championship banner to the 19 returning players from last years squad, who carried it to the spot for its trip to the rafters. Front office staff and players posed for a picture with the banner hanging just over the ice. It was then raised to the top while the crowd roared. "It was amazing," Hossa said. "So much light in the stands. To stand on the ice and look at 20-something-thousand people just celebrating. Its going to stay in my heart for the memories." Chicago then brushed aside any concern of a letdown caused by the banner ceremony and grabbed the lead when Bollig stuffed home a rebound 4:06 in for his first career regular-season goal. After Ovechkin tied it with a power-play goal, Kane sent a wrist shot past Holtby to make it 2-1 at 11:06. Kane won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when the Blackhawks made their run to the championship. Holtby made 29 saves in Washingtons first regular-season game in Chicago since March 18, 2012. NHL teams played games strictly within their own conference last season after the lockout cut the campaign nearly in half. "The first 40 minutes I thought that we played pretty good hockey," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "If anything, our turnovers gave them momentum and gave them some life. Theyve got a good hockey team. Its hard to play that way." NOTES: Chicago beat Washington twice during the preseason, including a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday night. ... The teams will meet again in Washington on April 11. ... 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