National Basketball Association

DeRozan scores 15, Raptors beat Knicks 83-80

Published Oct. 24, 2014 10:52 p.m. ET

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MONTREAL (AP) DeMar DeRozan scored 15 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 13, and the Toronto Raptors beat the New York Knicks 83-80 on Friday night at the Bell Centre in the final preseason game for both teams.

Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams each added 12 points for the Raptors (7-1), who won six straight in the preseason and matched their exhibition victory record of seven.

Carmelo Anthony had 24 points for the Knicks (3-4), and Amare Stoudemire had 11 points and six rebounds.

It was a tight contest, with 17 lead changes, including late in the fourth quarter.

With the Knicks ahead 78-77 with less than a minute to play, Williams scored to give Toronto the lead for good. A key takeaway with 8 seconds remaining sealed the victory.

Knicks center Samuel Dalembert, one of only 14 Canadians in the NBA, got the start for New York. Born in Haiti, Dalembert moved to Montreal when he was 14. The 6-foot-11 center finished with two points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.

A Raptors victory looked unlikely early on.

Anthony was unstoppable at the start, setting the tone with an early 3-pointer, and finished the quarter 5 of 8 for 14 points in a game tied at 24-all.

Late in the second quarter, Dalembert's tip-in, a layup by Anthony, and Langston Galloway's 3 gave the Knicks a 46-38 halftime lead.

The Raptors responded with a 17-point run in the third period. Two slam dunks by DeRozan and eight points by Valanciunas gave Toronto a 57-48 lead.

Down 63-57 to start the fourth quarter, the Knicks slowly came back, pulling within a basket with 10 minutes remaining and tying it with seven minutes left. But the Raptors scored five unanswered points late and held on.

Prior to the game, fans observed a moment of silence to honor Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was gunned down Wednesday at Canada's national war memorial in Ottawa, and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, a Canadian soldier killed by a young convert to Islam in a hit-and-run accident in Quebec on Monday.

The Raptors open the regular season Wednesday night against Atlanta at Air Canada Centre, where Toronto will play nine of its first 12 games. The Knicks' first game is against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden, also on Wednesday night.