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Raptors dominate Celtics, improve to 11-1 against Atlantic

Xinhua, March 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Reigning Atlantic Division champions Toronto Raptors toppled Boston Celtics 105-91 in Friday night's NBA game to capture their 10th consecutive victory over teams in the division.

With the win, Toronto improves to 47-21 on the season and 11-1 against teams in their division, a league-best 91.7 percent winning percentage.

"Nothing is going to be easy with Boston, that team is a scrappy team," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey following the victory in Toronto. "If you don't meet that with force and turn it around on them, they can make it a long night."

Toronto is now a perfect 3-0 against Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The team's lone divisional loss occurred against New York Knicks on Nov. 10, 2015. They hold a 2-1 record against the New York on the season.

The 11 wins ties Toronto's franchise-record for most wins against divisional opponents in a season since 2003-04, when NBA expanded from four divisions to six. Since then, the best record a Toronto team has managed is 11-5 during the 2006-07, 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

With four games remaining against the division, Raptors are destined to surpass the record and secure their third consecutive Atlantic division title.

With 14 games remaining on the season and an 8.5 game advantage over Boston, Raptors require a combination of five Toronto wins or Boston losses to secure the division.

Toronto will have a chance to lower the number by two when they visit Boston next Wednesday. Raptors have never swept a season-series against Celtics in the team's 21-year history. Endit