NEW ORLEANS -- If the Toronto Raptors are to have any hope of catching the Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record in the Eastern Conference, they knew coming into Saturday night's game against the injury-ravaged New Orleans Pelicans that they had to get down to business.

It took about 12 minutes to figure out that they had.

The Raptors (49-23) held New Orleans to 15 first-quarter points and a season-low 36 in the first half and coasted to a 115-91 victory, snapping a two-game road losing streak and matching their franchise record for victories in a season – with 10 games left.

The Raptors, who have increased their win total in each of the last five seasons, are 2 1/2 games behind the Cavaliers for the No. 1 spot in the East.

"I liked our defensive focus," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said about his team's suffocating defense that held New Orleans to 35 percent shooting in the first two quarters. "Defensively, we came in and did what we wanted to do. I don't care who we're playing, who's hurt or whatever. I thought we came out with the right focus."

One night after being ejected in the fourth quarter along with backcourt mate Kyle Lowry for arguing a call in a 112-109 road loss to Houston, DeMar DeRozan scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the third quarter. The Raptors led by as many as 31 points and never looked back.

DeRozan said he and Lowry knew they had to keep their minds in the game.

"It was definitely important, just us being professionals as a team," said DeRozan, who made 9 of 11 shots. "We got to bounce back. We got to be to better on both ends and execute, and that's what we did tonight."

Toronto held short-handed New Orleans (26-46) to 43 percent shooting, and the Raptors shot 53.4 percent from the floor. In addition to DeRozan, the Raptors were led by reserve forward Patrick Patterson with 16 points, Norman Powell with 15 and Luis Scola with 12, all coming on 3-pointers.

Toronto swept the series against New Orleans, having also beaten the Pelicans 100-81 on Nov. 13.

Lowry was one of the few Raptors who had a poor shooting night (three of 13), but he had eight assists, including a pair of lob passes for alley-oop dunks by DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas to climax a 21-8 run to start the third quarter, and the Raptors built a 69-44 lead.

Scola made three 3-pointers in the quarter for nine points in the quarter and was four of five behind the arc. Scola has improved his shooting range in his eighth NBA season, and he's made eight 3-pointers in the last two games.

"Sam Perkins became a great 3-pointer shooter at 7-foot or 6-11, and he added that to his game at a later age," Casey said. "Older guys tend to do that because the game is slower. They understand time and distance of the 3-point shot. If I'm an older player, that's something I'd want to add to my game because it's kind of easy to get to and you don't have to move a lot to get there."

New Orleans' starting frontcourt of Dante Cunningham, Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik shot a combined eight of 28 from the floor. Alonzo Gee, with four dunks, led the Pelicans with a season-high 18 points.

"We didn't shoot the ball well," said New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry. "They just get into you. They just do such a great job defensively that they got us all out of whack."

"It was tough for us," Gee said. "We got down early, and a good team like that, it's hard to fight and come back."

NOTES: Pelicans general manager Dell Demps dismissed a report there was "friction" in his relationship with coach Alvin Gentry because of the injury-riddled team's sub-par performance this year. "My confidence in Alvin has not wavered," Demps said on Friday. "The only regret that I have is that our team is not at full strength. And Alvin hasn't had the opportunity to coach the team at full strength. I think he's done a fantastic job." ... The Pelicans probably will be without F Ryan Anderson (groin) and G Norris Cole (back) for a while longer. ... Pelicans G Jrue Holiday still is gimpy because of a bruised small left toe. "It's not really an injury, but it's his little toe and he just can't put pressure on it," Gentry said. ... Toronto coach Dwane Casey said because of limited practice time, "We're using the games now as more of a practice session. Win, lose or draw, we gotta learn from the games and get our reps from the games." … This was the 44th straight game in which the Pelicans have allowed at least 90 points. … The Pelicans are 0-33 when scoring less than 100 points this year.