Chris Bosh was named Monday as the NBA's player of the week. (Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)

A favourable Raptors schedule might put Toronto in a position to give the Boston Celtics a serious challenge for the Atlantic Division title.

Including Tuesday's contest against the hometown Indiana Pacers, Toronto plays six of its 10 games this month against teams with losing records, giving point guard Jarrett Jack reason to call it "friendly February" when talking to reporters Monday.

The Celtics are in a tailspin, having lost losing 11 of their last 17 games. Toronto's strong 19-9 record since the beginning of December has vaulted the team into fifth, and now the Raptors have their eyes on Boston sitting in fourth, five games ahead.

Now add the fact that the Raps are 13-4 against sub-.500 teams, and you have a recipe for an intriguing division race — at least for the next month, because Toronto needs to start beating the teams it would face in the playoffs for any chance of making some noise when the regular season ends.

Against Boston, for instance, the Raptors are 0-3 this season, and there's a big possibility that the two sides will meet in the first round.

It doesn't get any better against the others in the so-called Big Four of the East: Toronto is only 2-9 combined against Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta and Boston, who sit first through fourth, respectively, in the conference.

"I mean, [those four teams are] better than us," Chris Bosh told reporters at practice. "I think, hands down, they're better than us. But I think that gives us something to work for. We need to work, plain and simple."

First thing's first: finishing off a home-and-home with Indiana (16-32), as the Raptors look for their second straight win against the Pacers and sixth straight victory overall.

Bosh leads way

Toronto handily beat the Pacers 117-102 at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday, as Bosh led the way with another double-double (26 points, 15 rebounds). His effort during the Raptors' current run earned him the league's player-of-the-week honour on Monday.

Seven Raptors had double-digit point totals against the Pacers.

"We have a strong bench," Bosh said. "I think that was one of the keys to our success this year, how our bench was going to play. So far we've played pretty well. We will need them to continue to play well."

In their last trip to Indiana, the Raptors suffered their worst collapse of the season, as they blew a 23-point lead to fall 105-101 on Jan. 11.

Bosh was named to the Eastern Conference NBA all-star team last week, the fifth time he'll be participating in the showcase in his seven-year career. It's scheduled for Valentine's Day in Dallas.

The Raptors got some bad news on Monday, as Hedo Turkoglu won't make the trip to Indiana. He suffered a minor fracture in his orbital bone early in Sunday's game. Turkoglu could possibly play with a protective mask while the injury heals.

Rookie DeMar DeRozan will miss his fourth straight game with an ankle injury.

Toronto has scored over 100 points in its last 11 games, a franchise record. After the game against Indiana, the Raptors host New Jersey on Wednesday.

With files from The Canadian Press