Knicks 108, Raptors 100: Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points to lift visiting New York to a critical win in its pursuit of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Amar'e Stoudemire had a season-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who remained two games behind eighth-place Atlanta in the East with three games to play. J.R. Smith contributed 15 points and Raymond Felton chipped in 12 for New York.

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and Kyle Lowry added 25 for Toronto, which missed out on a chance to clinch the Atlantic Division for the first time since 2006-07. Jonas Valanciunas collected 14 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as the Raptors fell a game behind Chicago for third place in the East.

Neither team led by more than five points before DeRozan drained a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to put Toronto up 53-45. New York heated up and gained a 78-77 lead on Anthony's jumper in the closing seconds of the period.

Pablo Prigioni's triple with 8:22 to go in the game stretched the Knicks' lead to 87-82 and Stoudemire scored four straight New York points to make it 91-84 midway through the fourth. Stoudemire had consecutive dunks with just over four minutes remaining to extend the lead to double digits, enough for the Knicks to survive a scoreless drought of over three minutes and a late push by the Raptors.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Lowry picked up a technical foul for arguing in the third quarter. ... Toronto was 15-for-33 from 3-point range, while New York finished 6-for-24. ... The teams play again Wednesday in New York to close out the regular season.