TORONTO - The Toronto Raptors are headed to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points to lift the Raptors to a 105-103 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday, officially booking their spot in the post-season.
Terrence Ross added 17 points, while Greivis Vasquez finished with 15 for Toronto (41-31).
Former Raptor Jerryd Bayless led the Celtics (23-49) with 20 points, while Jeff Green finished with 16.
The Raptors went into the night with a 2.5-game lead over Brooklyn for first in the Atlantic Division and tied with Chicago for the No. 3 seed in the East. They needed a win or a loss by the New York Knicks in Phoenix to secure their spot in the playoffs.
But the win didn't come easily against a team the Raptors had beaten in Boston 99-90 two nights earlier.
Against a team that has been all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Raptors led by only single digits until late in the third quarter and took an 85-73 advantage into the fourth in front of a capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre.
DeRozan scored Toronto's first 10 points of the fourth and his basket with 8:03 gave the Raptors a nine-point lead as they looked headed for certain victory. But the pesky Celtics fought back with a 15-2 run and a basket by Canadian Kelly Olynyk with 3:07 left put the visitors up by four.
The game was tied with 1:14 to go before DeRozan scored, then Rajon Rondo replied with a driving layup to make it all even again with 27 seconds left. Then with the crowd on its feet, Kyle Lowry's shot bounced off the rim and Amir Johnson darted in to tip it in with 7.1 seconds left to raucous applause.
Lowry, who had scored 20-plus points in the previous eight games, finished with nine points playing on a heavily-taped ankle after rolling it late in the first half when he stepped on Avery Bradley's foot. He limped to the locker-room, had it taped at halftime and returned to start the second half.
The Raptors' first-round opponent will be determined over the final 10 regular-season game, although if the playoffs started today, they'd face the sixth-place Washington Wizards. Other potential first-round opponents: the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey said it was key for the Raptors to keep their composure Friday against the Celtics, and down the stretch as they battle for post-season positioning.
"There's nobody on our schedule that you're going to look at like 'There's a win. . .there's a win.' We have nobody like that, we're not built that way," said Casey.
"If we don't go out and play desperate every game, those (playoff) expectations can be let down at any time. It's on us. It's on our approach, our intensity, our focus on both ends of the floor, going into the game."
Olynyk, a Celtics rookie, finished with 10 in 19 minutes. Olynyk was born in Toronto and spent 12 years here before moving to Kamloops, B.C., with his family. He grew up a Raptors fan — his mom Arlene was a scorekeeper for the NBA team. His dad Ken coached the University of Toronto basketball team for 13 seasons.
The Raptors got out to a slow start and trailed for most of the first quarter despite shooting 58 per cent, but came to life in time to put together a 32-26 lead going into the second.
A driving layup by DeRozan six minutes into the second quarter gave the Raptors a nine-point advantage, but the Celtics used a 13-3 run to take a one-point lead two minutes before halftime. The Raptors took a 56-53 lead into the locker-room at the break.
The Raptors finally put together a double-digit lead in the third, taking a 12-point lead on a three by Vasquez with 1:48 to play.
NOTES: Casey said injured Patrick Patterson is "a little sore but making great progress." Casey said Patterson, a key player off the bench, could return to action Sunday or Monday. . . The Raptors are at Orlando to face the Magic on Sunday, then head to Miami to play the Heat on Monday. . .Rondo played Friday with the bridge of his nose bandaged; Rondo received nine stitches on Wednesday after an errant elbow by Vasquez.
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