Toronto advances to first conference final by crushing Miami

Toronto fans chanted "We Want Cleveland!" in the final seconds. And they got it.

Kyle Lowry scored 35 points and DeMar DeRozan had 28 as the Raptors beat the Miami Heat 116-89 in Game 7 on Sunday to advance to the NBA's Eastern Conference final for the first time in franchise history.

Bismack Biyombo added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Raptors, who will open the series in Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

"It's great to hear the home crowd," DeRozan said. "This organization deserves it, Canada deserves it. To see them get to the next step, somewhere they haven't been. But we're not done yet."

After struggling for much of the playoffs, Lowry and DeRozan were in top form for Game 7. Lowry made 11 of 20 shots, including five of seven from 3-point range, and DeRozan connected on 12 of 29 attempts. Lowry had nine assists and seven rebounds, DeRozan had eight rebounds.

"We never doubted Kyle and DeMar," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "They're our All-Stars and they both played like it tonight. They both stepped up and carried us."

DeMarre Carroll scored 14 points, and Patrick Patterson had 11 to help the Raptors become the 15th team in NBA history to win two Game 7s in one postseason. Toronto beat Indiana in the first round.

Now the Raptors get ready for the Cavaliers, who swept Detroit in the quarterfinal and have been resting since May 8, when they capped a semifinal sweep of Atlanta.

"I think this group is hungry," Casey said about his team. "Never say never."

Casey declined to say whether center Jonas Valanciunas, who sprained his right ankle in Game 3 against the Heat, would be available against Cleveland.

"He's still limping around but he's doing therapy 24-7 so we'll see," Casey said.

Scouting booklets for the Cleveland series were sitting on the chair of each Raptors player inside their locker room less than an hour after the game.

"We know we've got a tough task ahead," Lowry said. "It's always a challenge going against those guys."

Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic each scored 16 points for the Heat. Miami was denied the opportunity to renew acquaintances with former teammate James in the conference final.

"We fought tooth and nail to try to get to that goal," Wade said. "We came up obviously one game short. For myself and a lot of guys on this team, there's not always another season, so you want to take advantage of the opportunities."

Miami hadn't lost a Game 7 since the first round at Atlanta in 2009. The Heat won their past four Game 7s, all at home, and was seeking to join the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics as the only teams to win five straight Game 7s.

Instead, Miami was left to wonder what might have been after losing Chris Bosh at the All-Star break for the second straight year, then losing center Hassan Whiteside to a sprained right knee in Game 3 against Toronto.

"Hopefully, going forward this organization is not snakebitten like we've been the last two years, losing key players," Wade said.

Joe Johnson and Justise Winslow scored 13 points, and Luol Deng had 12 for the Heat. After rallying to beat Charlotte in the first round, Miami fell short in its bid to become the first team to erase 3-2 deficits in consecutive series.

The Raptors improved to 3-6 when they had a chance to eliminate their opponent.

Charlotte, the Los Angeles Clippers, and New Orleans are the only three teams to never reach a conference final. Toronto got there in its 21st season.

Timberwolves' Towns crowned top rookie

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns has been voted the NBA's Rookie of the Year, according to a source with direct knowledge of the award.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made. The NBA was scheduled to announce the winner on Monday.

The No 1 overall pick from Kentucky posted the best rookie season for a big man since Tim Duncan. He averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and helped the Timberwolves win 13 more games than they did the previous season.

Towns also played all 82 games and was named Western Conference rookie of the month in all six months the award was handed out.

Towns is the second straight Timberwolves player to win the Rookie of the Year award after teammate Andrew Wiggins had a similarly convincing debut.

Add to those two young stars a promising supporting cast including Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio, Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad that will be coached next season by Tom Thibodeau, and the Wolves believe they can finally end a 12-season playoff drought.