Raptors 90. 76ers 72
TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson each scored 19 points and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 90-72 Wednesday before a crowd of 15,629 at Air Canada Centre.
Johnson added 12 rebounds as the Raptors ended a two-game losing string while the 76ers have lost five in a row.
Ed Davis added 17 points and had nine rebounds while Jose Calderon scored 14 points with 11 assists. Landry Fields had season highs with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Alan Anderson added nine points.
Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young led Philadelphia with 16 points each and Evan Turner added 10.
The Raptors had lost the first two games against the 76ers this season.
Toronto (13-22) entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead and went up 73-61 when Anderson hit a pull-up jumper. Neither team scored in the next three minutes until Young hit an eight-foot hook shot to cut the Raptors lead to 10.
Holiday and Young moved Philadelphia (15-22) to within six points but Johnson's layup with 6:19 to play gave the Raptors a 75-67 advantage. DeRozan was fouled while making a driving lineup and converted the free throw to make the lead 11.
The Raptors took a two-point lead into the second half and the score was tied five times before they extended it to seven points with 4:34 to play in the third quarter. Anderson's 3-pointer gave Toronto a 69-57 lead with 1:39 to play in the quarter.
After the Raptors snapped a 14-14 tie with a 10-0 run, the 76ers scored the final seven points of the first quarter to trail, 24-21. Toronto led by as many as eight points in the second quarter but led only 42-40 at the half.
Notes: Rookie guard Terrence Ross (sprained left ankle) and forward Linas Kleiza (sore right knee) were out for the Raptors. ... Forward/center Andrea Bargnani (right elbow) and center Jonas Valanciunas (right ring finger) continued to be sidelined for Toronto. ... Center Kwame Brown missed his second consecutive game for Philadelphia for personal reasons. ... The Sixers were playing the second part of back-to-back games after losing at home to Brooklyn on Tuesday. It was the fourth consecutive set of back-to-back games for Philadelphia. After Wednesday's game, the 76ers will play 12 of their next 13 games at home, including a run of eight in a row. ... Sixers head coach Doug Collins does not like such imbalanced scheduling. "I'm not one to make excuses, but in 40 years in the NBA I've never seen anything like it," he said before the game. "It's been brutal." ... The Sixers opened their season with a 10-6 record before winning only five of their next 20 entering Wednesday. ... Toronto plays next on Saturday at home against the Houston Rockets. The Raptors are home on Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats.
