Knicks stumble to finish with defeat to Raptors

Playing without Carmelo

Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks saw their record fall to 30-51 for the year with a 11097 defeat to the visiting Raptors in their next-to-last game of the season.

NEW YORK >> The Toronto Raptors know they are headed for another wakeup call, no matter how much they would like to sleep in.

They’ve had the noon start on the opening day of the NBA playoffs the last few years and expect it again. So while playing some no-name Knicks on Sunday might not get them ready for the caliber of competition, at least it provided a glimpse of the timing.

DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points and the Raptors overcame a slow start to wrap up at least the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 110-97 victory over New York.

“We’ve got to get our bodies and minds ready and I told the guys remember how this felt, (who) had a tough time getting going because that’s probably going to be the game we have,” coach Dwane Casey said.

The Raptors pulled away in the fourth quarter to reach 50 victories for the second straight season. They can still finish second if they beat Cleveland in their regular-season finale and Boston loses its final two.

Kyle Lowry had 17 points and 11 assists for the Raptors, who swept the Knicks for the first time since 2009-10 in a strong follow-up to their franchiserecord 56-win finish last season.

“A lot of teams don’t get the opportunity just to win 50 games,” DeRozan said. “For us to do it backto-back years just shows the process and the progress that we made over the years.”

Rookie Willy Hernangomez tied his career high with 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who despite playing without most of their top players trailed only 76-75 after three. But Toronto broke it open behind the 3-point line and won its third straight.