Fansided

Toronto Raptors clinch Atlantic Division title despite loss to Knicks

By Michael Collins

Apr 11, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dunks against the New York Knicks at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 108-100. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dunks against the New York Knicks at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 108-100. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Toronto Raptors wanted to beat the New York Knicks to clinch their second Atlantic Division title in franchise history. Toronto lost to the Knicks 108-100, but thanks to the Atlanta Hawks victory over Brooklyn, the Raptors clinched anyway.

“It’s sweet and sour,” Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said via the Chronicle-Herald. “It’s very sweet that we won the division but it sucks that we didn’t win it by a win. But we’ll take the division champs any day.”

The Raptors will return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08 season, when they lost to the Orlando Magic in the first round, and have their first non-losing season since 2006-07.

With Atlantic Division champion T-shirts in the locker room, there was still no real celebration, as the team is focused on what lies ahead in the postseason.

“We’re still anxious,” said Raptors guard/forward DeMar DeRozan. “We still want more. We’re not satisfied with nothing (yet). DeRozan led the Raptors with 26 points on the night.

“We understand we have much more basketball to play and a long road to go and we want to take advantage of it. Not just get there and say we got there, where people doubted us. We definitely feel like we can go in and make some noise.”

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