TORONTO -- Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points, while Lou Williams added 18 and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 94-83 on Friday to clinch their second straight Atlantic Division title.

James Johnson added 17 points, Amir Johnson had 11, and Terrence Ross finished with 10 for the Raptors (43-30), who were missing injured all-star Kyle Lowry.

Jeremy Lin topped the Lakers (19-52) with 18 points. Robert Sacre of North Vancouver, B.C., a member of Canada's national team, added seven points in 24 minutes of action.

The Raptors have clinched a playoff spot, but hope to shrug off their recent struggles and head into the post-season on a high note. At the other end of the spectrum, the Lakers have been eliminated from playoff contention.

The Raptors broke open what had been a close game in the fourth quarter. They led 71-66 but had stretched that to 17 points by the time Williams scored on a layup with 3:16 to play. The capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre cheered as Brazilian rookie Bruno Caboclo was subbed in with 1:25 remaining and the game well out of reach.

Dressed in a maroon suit jacket, Lowry watched the night unfold from his spot alongside the coaches. The point guard has been sidelined four of the last five games with a sore back, suffered when he fell and landed awkwardly in a win over Minnesota on March 18. He played part of one game in Detroit on Tuesday, but left in the second quarter with back spasms.

The original Toronto Raptors ownership group including John Bitove and Isiah Thomas were honoured as part of the Raptors' 20th anniversary celebrations.

"People gave us a chance and gave us an opportunity, and this is what we always thought it could be," said Thomas, the team's first general manager. "Once they got a taste of basketball here in this country, we knew that they would love. It's been great."

The Lakers led for the majority of the first quarter, going up by 10 points on a hook shot by Sacre with 37 seconds left. Los Angeles led 24-17 going into the second.

James Johnson had 11 points in a second quarter that saw Toronto shoot 49 per cent. The Raptors took a two-point lead on a pair of Valanciunas free throws with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the half, but it was short lived, as L.A. headed into halftime with a 48-46 advantage.

Ross led the way with 10 points in the third as the Raptors held a lead through most of the quarter, and went into the fourth up 71-66.

The Raptors host the Houston Rockets on Monday.