If they hadn't been talking like this all year, if they hadn't been telling everyone who'd listen how good the team chemistry is around the Raptors and how everyone cares for everyone else, it would be hard not to snicker at what unfolded in the aftermath of last night's game.
But when Sam Mitc talked about mutual respect and Jose Calderon talked about family and Morris Peterson talked about everyone pulling for one another, it was impossible not to take them seriously.
And if things keep happening like easy wins over good teams, all the mutual love and respect is going to carry the Raptors a long way.
With Calderon putting up a career night as a starter only because T.J. Ford said it would be best for the team and Chris Bosh having one of the most effective offensive nights in franchise history, the Raptors rolled to a 119-109 victory over the Washington Wizards that should have ended with one great big group hug.
"It's like a family here and it doesn't matter who starts and who doesn't start, we have to win," said Calderon, who had a career-best 24 points and if he didn't out-play Washington's Gilbert Arenas he at least held him to a draw.
"We did and everybody's happy today, nobody's talking about who's playing and who's not. We win, and everybody's happy. That's our thing.
"I tell you all the time, we need the 14 guys here to win games. We never know when it's our turn to play good or play bad, everybody in this room is important to win games."
Ford, returning after a four-game absence due to lingering pain in his sprained right ankle, knew before the game he wasn't going to be able to carry his usual load. So instead of going back in the starting lineup and struggling, he told coach Mitc to start Calderon and the move paid off in spades.
Calderon made 10 of 13 field-goal attempts, added 11 assists for his fifth double-double of the season and allowed Ford to ease himself back in a 16-minute night.
"I just thought it was an unselfish gesture," said Mitc . "Those two guys know each other, they respect each other and that's what we talk about, making sacrifices.
"I told (Calderon): That's a sign of how much respect T.J. has for you as a person and a player. He's willing as he works his way back to let you keep running the show."
Of course, as it turns out, Calderon could have run the show just as effectively by simply throwing the ball to Bosh every time down the court.
After missing his first four shots, Bosh reeled off an astonishing streak of 15 straight baskets, finishing with a game-high 34 points, including three on a shot they'll remember for a long time.
Just a second before the third-quarter buzzer, Bosh collared a loose ball about three quarters of the court away from the basket, took one step and tossed a chest pass-desperation heave that got nothing but net. The 65-footer was the longest basket of his career.
"That's unbelievable," Peterson said of Bosh's night. "I didn't really think about it, I just knew in my head Chris was playing really, really well.
"He knocked down jump shots, he took the ball to the basket, he hit a 65-footer. He's playing like the starting all-star power forward in the East.
"When you're playing that well and everything's going right, it makes it a lot easier for us to go out there and feed off that energy," added Peterson.
The Wizards, who were without the injured Antawn Jamison, got 27 points from Arenas but he really didn't have an impact on the game. A dozen of them came in the fourth quarter, after Toronto had taken control with a 17-point lead after three.
"In a perfect world you don't want them to shoot 36 free throws but it's just so hard," Mitc said of the Wizards. "They just spread you out, then you help and they kick it out and all those guys can shoot the ball. (But) we controlled the tempo of the game, we got some easy baskets and we made some shots."
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