Gary Trent Jr. scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 119-109 on Wednesday night.
Pascal Siakam added 20 points and matched his career best with 13 assists for the Raptors, who have won two in a row.
Scottie Barnes added 16 points for Toronto. Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby each scored 15 points while Chris Boucher added 13.
Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 31 for the 76ers, who have lost four of their first five games. James Harden added 18 points and nine assists, and De’Anthony Melton had 12 points.
The Raptors, who never trailed after the opening three minutes, took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Toronto scored the first six points of the fourth before Maxey capped a 12-2 run with a dunk.
P.J. Tucker hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight points with 2:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, Barnes’ dunk with 1:36 to play gave the Raptors a 12-point edge.
Harden made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to seven with 56.2 seconds left. Barnes converted a three-point play with 20.9 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.
Led by Siakam’s 15 points, Toronto was ahead 35-27 after one quarter.
The Raptors increased the lead to 17 on Dalano Banton’s layup with 4:30 remaining in the second quarter. Embiid completed the first-half scoring with one free throw, cutting Toronto’s lead to 63-53 at halftime.
The Raptors committed just one turnover in the first half while the 76ers had six.
Embiid opened the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer.
Maxey’s layup and free throw cut the gap to six with 7:08 to play in the third, but Toronto answered with five straight points.
Maxey made a layup and a 3-pointer to trim the margin to six with 2:58 to go in the third.
Trent finished the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer to give Toronto an 89-79 lead. Trent scored 16 points in the third quarter.
The teams meet again on Friday, also in Toronto.
–Field Level Media
