TORONTO -- Late in the third quarter Friday night, some angry jostling between John Salmons and Paul George quickly turned into a shoving match. Andrew Whitworth Rams Jersey . The dust-up brought the cheering crowd at the Air Canada Centre to its feet and earned both players matching technical fouls. But even more, said Salmons, it said everything about this Toronto Raptors team. Theyre not afraid of anyone. Terrence Ross led the way with 24 points as the short-handed Raptors slayed another significant foe, defeating the Indiana Pacers 102-94. "Were not going to back down from anybody, were not going to quit, were going to be there, were going to fight," Salmons said. "Our leader (Kyle Lowry) hasnt been playing the last two games, but were still fighting. . . Were definitely not going to back down, were going to continue to fight." Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and nine rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points and doled out nine assists for the Raptors (44-32), who claimed their fifth win in six starts despite missing starters Lowry and Amir Johnson. "We feel like we can beat anybody when we step out there on the court," said DeRozan. "Theyre a top team in the east, and thats a team that were fighting to be in their position. Tonight was a big game at this time of the season." Greivis Vasquez and Nando De Colo had 10 points apiece, while Patrick Patterson, who started in place of Johnson in only his third game since missing 11 with an elbow injury, had seven boards. Paul George had 26 points to top the Pacers (53-24), while David West added 21. "This is a playoff team," George said of Toronto. "Down the stretch they just got a lot of bounces that created second shots for them. If you give a playoff team another look or an opportunity they are going to knock you down." There was a definite post-season vibe to the Eastern Conference battle between two teams that could potentially meet in the second round of the playoffs. The Pacers had led the East all season until a recent slide saw them fall below the Miami Heat on percentage points. The playoff-bound Raptors are third in the conference. "Were a scrappy team, a scrappy grind-it-out team, so if one player goes down, we have other players that can come in, help us off the bench, give us that same spark," Ross said. "Thats how weve been winning games." It was see-saw battle for the first half before the Raptors cobbled together an 11-point lead in the third quarter, but it was short-lived as Indiana outscored Toronto 22-11 to send the game into the fourth tied 75-75. The Pacers went on a quick 7-0 run midway through the quarter to take a three-point lead, but the resilient Raptors responded with a run of their own, and when Valanciunas grabbed his own rebound and finished with a lovely hook shot, it put Toronto up 96-94 with three minutes to play. Valanciunas would score the next basket to make it a four-point lead, and the Raptors held fast on the defensive end the rest of the way, to the delight of the fans at Air Canada Centre, who were on their feet for the final few minutes. When DeRozan stepped to the line to calmly drain two free throws with 13 seconds left, the crowd chanted "M-V-P!" It was the second straight game without Lowry, who has a bruised kneecap, and Johnson -- although Johnson did play three minutes in Wednesdays 107-103 win over Houston before leaving the game. Dressed smartly in a charcoal suit, Lowry could have been mistaken for one of the coaches and he hollered at teammates and gave instructions from the bench. "Id rather see Kyle in uniform than in street clothes and coaching. I told Kyle this all the time, that when he becomes a coach, I cannot wait to come watch his teams play," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, laughing. "Im going to be that heckler in the stands Boo coach!" DeRozan added dryly: "(The coaching) was a little bit worse than he does when hes in the game with you, because he doesnt stop talking." The Raptors have six games to go in their quest for the Atlantic Division title, and their battle for a favourable opponent in the post-season. Theyre also on pace for their best regular-season record ever. Their most wins in a season is 47, set in 2000-01 and 2006-07. The good news: Indiana was the Raptors last opponent with a plus-.500 record. And of their remaining opponents, they play Milwaukee -- the leagues worst team -- twice, and Philadelphia (second worst) once. "(The division title) is important, (but) its not worth jeopardizing someones health," Casey said. "Weve got players who are nicked up, banged up, weve got to make sure theyre healthy and we cant run them into the ground at the sake of trying to win now." The Pacers have been struggling, losing three straight and five of six before a win over Detroit on Wednesday. Still, Casey wasnt about to take anything away from the Raptors win. "Its a win. Its a W. Whatever the deal is (with the Pacers), theyve won 53 games, thats the way I look at it," Casey said. "Its a quality win." Ross shot 4-for-4 for 10 points in an opening quarter that saw 10 lead changes and neither team lead by more than four. The Pacers took a 28-27 advantage into the second. The back-and-forth battle continued into the second before the Raptors took control with a 15-5 run, capped by a Valanciunas layup, to send Toronto into the dressing room with a 54-46 halftime lead. A three-point play by Valanciunas gave the Raptors their biggest lead of the game -- 11 points -- midway through the third, but Indiana buckled down on defence and it was all tied up with 12 minutes to play. NOTES: The Raptors are at Milwaukee on Saturday then get a much-needed three-day break before hosting Philadelphia on Wednesday. . . Hip-hop artist and Raptors global ambassador Drake had a courtside seat. Gerald Everett Jersey . Ben Street scored twice for the Heat (17-5-1), who won their fourth game in a row and 13th in their last 14 outings. Brett Bulmer scored the lone goal for the Wild (6-11-0), who dropped their sixth straight contest. Kurt Warner Jersey . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Jared-Goff-Jersey/ . Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year.MIAMI - For a change, the Marlins wont spend the off-season as cellar dwellers.Clinching an escape from last place, the Marlins rallied in their home finale Thursday to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4. Casey McGehee had three RBIs, including a two-run, tiebreaking double in the seventh inning.The victory ensured the Marlins (76-82) will end a streak of three consecutive last-place finishes in the NL East. The Marlins wound up 42-39 at home, their first winning record since Marlins Park opened in 2012.It was a good way to end the season at home and leave a good taste in your mouth, McGehee said. The futures bright. We took a lot of positive steps this year, and I think the expectations should be high next year. Im looking forward to it.Thanks to a four-run seventh, Tom Koehler (10-10) finally reached double figures in victories for the first time. He had gone winless in his six previous starts despite a 3.50 ERA.The offence picked me up in a huge way, Koehler said. Its amazing how the mood can change in seven minutes.Koehler allowed four runs in seven innings. Steve Cishek pitched a perfect ninth for his 39th save in 43 chances.Philadelphia (72-87) sewed up last place in the division and finished 36-45 on the road.Phillies rookie David Buchanan gave up two runs in 5 1-3 innings and remained without a victory in nine starts since Aug. 10, even though he allowed less than four earned runs in his final 16 starts.I hope I made a good impression, and hope I can take this momentum into spring training and earn a spot, Buchanan said.The Marlins trailed 4-2 before scoring four runs on five hits against Jake Diiekman (5-5) in the seventh. Jack Youngblood Jersey. An error by third baseman Cody Asche allowed one run to score, and Donovan Solanos single tied the game before McGehee put the Marlins ahead.They scored more than two runs for only the fourth time in 13 games since losing NL home run leader Giancarlo Stanton to a season-ending facial injury.That seventh inning was a huge relief, manager Mike Redmond said. Thats exactly what weve been waiting on. That was an exciting way to finish the year at home.TRAINERS ROOMPhillies 2B Chase Utley has largely avoided needing treatment while missing only seven games at age 35. He has a chance to play in 155 games, his highest total since 2009.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Jerome Williams (6-7, 4.71), who hasnt allowed an earned run in his past two starts, takes the mound for the Phillies when they open their final series of the season Friday at home against Atlanta.Marlins: Top Miami prospect Andrew Heaney (0-3, 5.33) makes his first start since July 5 in the second game of a doubleheader Friday at Washington. RHP Jarred Cosart (4-3, 2.29) pitches for the Marlins in the first game.ROUGH DAY, ROUGH YEARThe Phillies Ryan Howard struck out four times and leads the majors with 188 strikeouts while batting only .219.ATTENDANCEThe Marlins will finish last in the National League in attendance for the ninth time in 10 years at 1.7 million, a per-game average of 21,386. They drew an enthusiastic crowd of 24,259 Thursday.To win the final game and have the crowd behind you feels good, Koehler said. Hopefully they come out again next year and get ready for a little bit longer season. ' ' '