Raps stifle Pacers to clinch East’s top seed

TORONTO The Toronto Raptors clinched the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, won the Atlantic Division title and broke their franchise record for regular-season wins.

Serge Ibaka scored 25 points to lift the Raptors to their historic 92-73 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, Toronto’s 57th win of the season and 33rd at the Air Canada Centre. Both topped the previous records set in the 2015-16 season. The Raptors (57-22) have three games left in the regular season.

DeMar DeRozan added 12 points, while Jakob Poeltl finished with 10 and Kyle Lowry doled out nine assists.

Glenn Robinson had 12 points, Trevor Booker finished with 11 and Canadian and former Raptors guard Cory Joseph scored six off the bench for the Pacers (47-33).

Playing in their Drake-inspired black-and-gold OVO jerseys, the Raptors led from the opening tipoff and, other than a second-quarter blip when they allowed the Pacers to pull within four points, they dominated for most of the night in front of a capacity Air Canada Centre crowd.

They pulled away in the third quarter thanks largely to Ibaka, who shot a perfect 5-for-5 in the frame — including a pair of threepointers — that put the Raptors ahead by 27 points. They took a 72-49 lead into the fourth.

The sizable lead allowed coach Dwane Casey to go to his bench for the final frame, allowing the starters some much-appreciated rest before the Raptors embark on their fifth consecutive postseason, which begins April 14.