National Basketball Association

Raptors 93, Knicks 89

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:32 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK -- DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and the Toronto Raptors kept alive their slim chances of securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 93-89 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday night.

By holding off the Knicks, Toronto (54-26) is two games behind Cleveland (56-24). If the Raptors win out and the Cavaliers lose both their games, the top spot goes to Toronto by virtue of winning the three-game season series. Toronto ends the season against Philadelphia and Brooklyn while Cleveland finishes with Atlanta and Detroit.

DeRozan also passed Vince Carter for second place on Toronto's all-time scoring list. He achieved the milestone by hitting a 16-footer with 5:05 remaining, giving Toronto an 81-79 lead.

The milestone basket hardly secured the win for Toronto, which allowed the Knicks to tie it three more times before DeRozan drove on the baseline and converted the free throw for an 89-86 lead with 1:05 remaining.

A layup by Jerian Grant made it an 89-88 game with 57.8 seconds left and DeRozan committed a turnover. The Knicks appeared to have a fast break when Cleanthony Early stripped DeRozan, but his off-balance movement led him to land out of bounds after crashing into Toronto's television broadcast table and the call stood following a brief review.

On the next possession, Kyle Lowry missed a layup but the Raptors got the rebound and Jonas Valanciunas converted a layup off an inbounds pass with 33.7 seconds remaining just before the shot clock expired.

The Knicks had another chance to get closer or tie the game but Grant missed a layup with 26.8 seconds left. After Terrence Ross split a pair at the line with 21.9 seconds to go, Early fumbled the inbounds pass and Toronto finally iced the win at the foul line.

Lowry, whose 3-pointer on Feb. 25 gave Toronto the season series over Cleveland, added 15 points as the Raptors picked up their club-record 23rd road win.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 21 points but did not play in the fourth quarter. Grant added 19 for New York, which shot 36.4 percent (32-of-88) and held an early 11-point lead.

NOTES: New York rookie F Kristaps Porzingis (sore right shoulder) missed his six straight game and interim coach Kurt Rambis did not have any further update on his status. ... Toronto coach Dwane Casey said he did not necessarily anticipate rookie G Norman Powell's recent emergence. Powell was inactive for seven games and did not play in 26 other games but averaged 24.9 in eight games in the D-League and scored 27 points Friday. "He earned it," Casey said. "He worked for it. He had a lot of guys in front of him but he has earned his keep as far as his minutes, his time." ... Toronto rested F Luis Scola for the second straight game and also gave rest to rookie G Delon Wright, who scored 19 points Friday. ... Asked if G Jerian Grant can be New York's starting point guard next season based on five starts, Rambis said: "That's a long ways away. It's way too early to determine something like that."