The Toronto Raptors made huge strides before last month's trade deadline to further improve their roster, when they added two defensive minded forwards. With P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka now part of their fold, it gives Dwane Casey  more players that are willing to play physical.

Not to take away anything from their other frontcourt players like Jonas Valanciunas, Patrick Patterson and Lucas Noguiera, but their two newest players have established themselves as highly physical players who do not need to score heavily to make an impact in a game.

More importantly for the veteran head coach, he now feels he has enough tools to give the other powerhouses in the East a run for their money and even strengthen their title contention.

Following their incredible come-from-behind victory against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, Tucker discussed via Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, what made it possible for them to come out with the victory on the night. He also talked about what they did differently that changed the complexion of the game.

“What we needed was just a toughness. Picking guys up, making them turn the ball over. If you sit back and let teams move the ball and get into their offences you’re not going to get any stops, you’re not going to turn the momentum. I was telling guys those first two plays where we got the steals, went down and got the layups, then got fouled, that’s the momentum shift. Now it’s time to pick guys up, especially on that second unit where they didn’t have really good ball handlers in the game.”

“That’s what we need. If we’re going to take this to another level we need him to pick up his defence. He’s been doing it, he’s been chasing guys off screens, rebounding the ball, he’s been doing things on defence and doing what he does on offence. I think with him doing that it’s just going to propel us (further).”

Ibaka may have been ejected after exchanging punches with Robin Lopez in the third quarter, but Tucker picked up the slack and provided a lot of energy, especially when they went on a 13-0 run in the final minutes of regulation.

With his performance on Wednesday, and despite Ibaka getting involved in a fist fight, they have both proven that they can be relied upon to provide toughness and physicality to a Raptors team that's looking to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. It also shows that Casey made the right decision in pulling off last-minute deals to secure their services.