TORONTO - With his running mate DeMar DeRozan under the weather, Kyle Lowry decided to make up for the both of them.

The Raptors guard poured in a career-high 43 points, including a jump shot with four seconds on the clock, to lift Toronto to a 99-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, in a thrilling battle between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

The No. 2 Raptors (39-18) clinched the season series against the top-ranked Cavs (41-16)

Terrence Ross added 15 points. Jonas Valanciunas, who took a hard elbow to the ribs from James and spent part of the third quarter being examined in the locker-room, finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Bismack Biyombo chipped in with 11 points as Toronto set a new record with 10 consecutive home wins.

DeRozan's 500th game was one to forget. The Raptors' top scorer, battling flu-like symptoms all night, had just six points on 1-for-11 shooting.

LeBron James led the Cavs with 25 points. Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., had a game-high 10 rebounds.

A healthy DeRozan would undoubtedly have made a big difference through the first three quarters for a Raptors team that trailed the Cavs for most of the night, and were down 77-68 going into the fourth.

But Lowry, who was spectacular all night in the virtual absence DeRozan, led a comeback seemingly by sheer will, and when he got fouled on a bucket right in front of the Cavs bench with 3:59 to play, he pumped a fist and hollered in Cleveland's direction. The Air Canada Centre crowd was delirious, and Lowry's ensuing free throw pulled the Raptors to within five.

A floating jumper from Ross put the Raptors up by one with 2:26 to play, to the delight of the noisy capacity crowd of 19,800 that included Buffalo Bills legend Thurman Thomas, who rifled autographed footballs to fans during a timeout.

A Lowry basket tied the game with 52 seconds left, then JR Smith missed on a three-point shot, and Lowry fired the dagger — a long jumper — to seal the victory in what many were touting as a conference final preview.

The Raptors beat the Cavs 103-99 on Nov. 25 in Toronto, but then were blown out 122-100 on Jan. 4 in Cleveland.

The Raptors shot 51 per cent on the night, and outscored the Cavs 50-34 in the paint.

Toronto looked completely out of sync in a first quarter that saw coach Dwane Casey rotate 10 players in search of a solution. Toronto allowed the Cavs to shoot 57 per cent in the frame and trailed 31-21 going into the second.

With James on the bench, the Raptors capitalized and took their first lead on a Biyombo layup five minutes before halftime. The Cavs took a 49-45 lead into the break.

Cleveland stretched its lead to a game-high 14 points late in the third.

NOTES: The Raptors play the Pistons in Detroit on Sunday, then return home for seven in a row. . .Morris Peterson (542), Jose Calderon (525), and Chris Bosh (509) are the only other players to have played 500-plus games for Toronto.