TORONTO – DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lift the Toronto Raptors 96-76 over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.Luis Scola added 22 points, while Kyle Lowry scored 16 for the Raptors (16-9), who ended their six-game homestand with four straight wins after opening with a pair of losses.Jahlil Okafor led the Sixers (1-24) with 23 points, while Robert Covington had 15 and Isaiah Canaan finished with 10.The Raptors now have won 10 straight versus Philly, a streak that stretches back to the beginning of the 2013-14 season, the most wins over the Sixers of any team in the NBA.The Raptors led by as many as 20 points, but, in what’s becoming a bad habit, they couldn’t put the young Sixers squad away for good until the dying minutes. They led 69-58 going into the fourth quarter, but a couple of Covington three-pointers helped pull the Sixers to within six points midway through the period.Fouls would cost Philly down the stretch as a parade of Raptors to the free-throw line put Toronto back up by 12 with just over four minutes left. DeRozan muscled his way to the rim for a layup with 2:25 to play that put Toronto up by 14 and sent dozens of fans streaming to the Air Canada Centre doors for an early exit.Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ont., had nine points for Philly.Toronto shot 41 per cent on the night, while holding Philadelphia to 33 per cent. The Sixers outrebounded Toronto 52-41, but giveaways proved costly for the struggling visitors _ they coughed up 28 points on 22 turnovers.Scola led the way in the first quarter with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including a pair of threes, as the Raptors raced out to 32-14 lead.A three-pointer by Covington pulled the Sixers to within four points as the Raptors allowed their guests back into the game in the second quarter. The Raptors took a 52-44 lead into the halftime break.The Raptors pulled ahead by 20 on a three by Lowry with three-and-a-half minutes to play in the third quarter, but the Sixers closed the frame with a 9-0 run to pull to within 11 with a quarter left to play.The Raptors play their next three on the road, against the Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, and Miami Heat. They’re back home on Sunday to host the Sacramento Kings.
