The Toronto Raptors wanted respect, wanted their due, wanted credit for what they had done and all they had accomplished.

Kyle Lowry made sure they got it.

The team’s toughest competitor and fiery leader made two of the biggest plays of his career Monday night in leading the Raptors to a place few thought they would ever be.

A Lowry steal off LeBron James set up a clutch free throw and a game-sealing layup when he simply blew by J.R. Smith and powered the Raptors to a 105-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The win reduced the NBA’s Eastern Conference final to a best-of-three series.

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Game 5 in the now-compelling 2-2 series is Wednesday in Cleveland, Game 6 is Friday in Toronto with Game 7, if necessary, back in Cleveland on Sunday night.

Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined for 67 points as the Raptors have laid waste to suggestions from so many that this series was a coronation for King LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

“We’re in it to compete for a championship, we’re here and that’s what we went through the season for . . . to go as far as we could,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.

“Nobody gave us a snowball’s chance in you know where to beat Cleveland.”

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Lowry, who finished with 35 points, treated Cleveland’s J.R. Smith like some kind of human pylon for the decisive basket, a driving layup with 22.5 seconds left that put Toronto ahead by six.

“That was exactly what we wanted, we were fortunate enough to get the switch we wanted and Kyle took advantage of it,” Casey said.

The Cavs made it a game by scoring on their first 11 possessions of the fourth quarter to set up the first truly dramatic ending to a game in a series that had seen three blowouts.

A DeRozan running layup off a Patrick Patterson offensive rebound put Toronto up four with just over a minute to go and, after the Raptors forced a turnover, Bismack Biyombo got them another extra possession with his 13th rebound of the game.

Lowry then simply blew by Smith for a layup and the Raptors ran out the game forcing two Cavalier misses.

“We had control of the game, up three points (with about six minutes left) and made some defensive mistakes you can’t make down the stretch,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. “They cost us each time we made a mistake, they made us pay.”

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DeRozan had 32 points for Toronto, 12 in the third quarter when he was being guarded primarily by James.

DeMarre Carroll chipped in 11 for the Raptors while James had 29 and Kyrie Irving 26 for Cleveland.

With Kevin Love still in a shooting funk, the Cavs simply went to the next shooting big man on the list and Channing Frye made three three-pointers in a row.

Biyombo was playing with the spectre of a one-game suspension hanging over his head after the NBA upheld an official’s call Saturday that saddled him with a Flagrant 1 foul. After reviewing the incident from multiple video angles and interviewing some of the participants, the league made no change to the original call.

It left Biyombo with three flagrant foul “points” after being assessed a retroactive Flagrant 2 in Game 7 of Toronto’s first-round series with the Indiana Pacers.

Biyombo was once again the energetic force he usually is — not the tune of 26 rebounds like Saturday — and a deterrent at the rim.

He had what looked like an astonishing block of James at the rim in the dying seconds of the first half but was called for his third personal foul on the play and laughed while racing back down the court to the Raptors bench.

Toronto did have its full complement of players available, as injured centre Jonas Valanciunas was active for the first time since spraining his ankle in Game 3 of the conference semifinal. He did not get into Monday’s game.

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