NEW YORK -- The best season in Raptors history continued with Toronto getting a win in a situation it might encounter during the playoffs, and with DeMar DeRozan reaching a significant milestone.

The Raptors kept alive their slim chances of securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs as DeRozan scored 27 points and passed Vince Carter on Toronto's all-time scoring list during a 93-89 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

"They were into us defensively sort of like it's going to be in a couple of weeks, and we have to execute in those situations," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "I didn't think our focus was there early, but once they said, 'Oh, we're in for a dogfight,' it got our attention and we had to execute down the stretch, and we need that type of execution because you don't get that type of quality practice time at full speed."

By holding off the Knicks, Toronto (54-26) moved within two games of first-place Cleveland (56-24). If the Raptors win out and the Cavaliers lose both of their remaining games, the top spot would go to Toronto by virtue of the Raptors winning the three-game season series. The Raptors end the season with a home game against the Philadelphia 76ers and a game in Brooklyn against the Nets. Cleveland finishes with two home games, against the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons.

"We're in the situation that we're in," Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said. "At the end of the day, we got to go out there and still win games, no matter whether we're (playoff seed No.) 1, 2, 3, 8, we got to go out there and win games.

Toronto's execution was not perfect at times, as it held a 10-point early in the fourth quarter but allowed the Knicks to tie the game four times in a span of three-plus minutes.

"We did OK," DeRozan said. "Now we got an opportunity to look at our mistakes and look at exactly what we need to clean up on."

The first two deadlocks came before and after DeRozan reached his milestone. He needed 21 points to pass Carter and did so by hitting a 16-footer with 5:05 remaining, giving Toronto an 81-79 lead.

The final deadlock occurred when Sasha Vujacic sank two free throws for an 86-86 tie with 2:12 to go, but Toronto did enough on both ends to ice the win.

DeRozan wound up shooting 12-for-17 from the floor.

"I'm proud of him, the way his game has evolved, he's still growing," Casey said. "There's other facets he still can get better at, but he's a young player in this league. You talk about a student of the game, he represents everything you want as far as building a program around. It couldn't have happened to a better person, a better player, better teammate and better leader."

DeRozan said of passing Carter, "It's hard to believe honestly. He's somebody you grow up watching. He's somebody you grow up idolizing and get a chance to play against, and now being able pass him on an all-time scoring list, words can't explain."

DeRozan finished off his milestone night with a tiebreaking layup and free throw with 65 seconds left for an 89-86 lead. Jonas Valaciunas hit a layup off an inbounds pass from Lowry with 33.7 seconds to go to extend it to 91-88 edge.

The Knicks missed chances to get closer when Jerian Grant missed a layup with 26.8 seconds left and Cleanthony Early crashed into the Toronto broadcast table after getting a steal with 18.2 seconds to go.

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 held an early 11-point lead.

New York shot 36 percent from the floor, while Toronto made 47.4 percent of its field-goal attempts.

The Knicks (32-49) hardly heard any boos from another sellout crowd and ended their 11th non-playoff season in the past 16 years by winning 18 home games.

"We wanted to win," Vujacic said. "Somehow, they found a way."

Added Grant: "We want to win games. We want to get better. Obviously, we are not making the playoffs, but we want to get better."

NOTES: New York rookie F Kristaps Porzingis (sore right shoulder) missed his sixth consecutive game and is not expected in Tuesday's season finale at Indiana. ... 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." Powell scored just two points Sunday. ... 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 Jerian Grant can be New York's starting point guard next season based on five starts, coach Kurt Rambis said: "That's a long ways away. It's way too early to determine something like that."