The second leading Eastern Conference team of the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting New York Knicks with a 116-101 triumph at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday night.

According to a published report of the ESPN, DeMar DeRozan beat all scorers with a 23-point production to go along with five rebounds and five assists to lead the Raptors in to another victorious battle. The two-time NBA All-Star joined most of the Canadian-based squad's starters in resting in the final period of the contest.

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"I was really proud of the way that the starters came out and set the tone, especially starting the third quarter, which has usually been our Achilles heel," Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey said after the match.

"We came out, set the tone and built a 30-point-plus lead, so my hat is off to those guys," the 59-year-old seasoned American bench tactician continued.

Toronto's starters have a good offensive night with forward DeMarre Carroll scoring 20 points while big man Jonas Valanciunas finishing the game in double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Ace point guard Kyle Lowry contributed with 16 markers and nine assists before coming out late in the third quarter as the Raptors outscored the Knicks 27-8 in the third frame of the game to take a 96-62 lead.

According to the league's official website, with the victory, Toronto had registered its 27th win in 40 games played this season. They remained to be the second top-ranked team in the Eastern Conference next to the reigning NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers.

It also marked Raptor's third straight win in a row and the team's 15th triumph in 21 matches played at the Air Canada Centre this season.

Carmelo Anthony paced New York, which drops to 18-23 and had lost eight of its last 10, with 18 points.

The Raptors will travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets on Tuesday night. They have beaten the Nets with a 132-113 win in Toronto on Friday night.

Tags Toronto Raptors, NBA, Eastern Conference, new york knicks, DeMar DeRozan