TORONTO – Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 32 points, including six three-pointers, with seven rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers downed the Toronto Raptors 135-120 on Sunday.
Cameron Payne finished with 24 points and Tobias Harris had 21 points as Philadelphia (40-35) ended a three-game losing skid.
Former Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 23 points as Toronto (23-51) lost its 13th game in a row. The Raptors dropped 17 consecutive games during the 1997-98 season for the longest losing streak in franchise history.
Bruce Brown added 18 points and Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B.C., had a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists.
Toronto has not held a lead in its last two games.
Although the Raptors are mathematically eliminated from the post-season, they still have some stakes left in the season.
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Their first-round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft is conditional, following a trade with the San Antonio Spurs last season for centre Jakob Poeltl. Toronto has the sixth-worst record in the NBA but if the draft lottery on May 12 shuffles them to seventh or higher that pick goes to San Antonio.
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The Raptors have a 37.2 per cent chance of moving up to a top-four pick in the lottery and a nine per cent chance of drawing the first overall pick.
Lowry drilled a three with 3:13 left in the first for a 14-point Philly lead, its largest of the game to that point. Raptors reserve forward Jordan Nwora drove to the net for a buzzer-beating layup to cut the 76ers’ lead to 35-27 at the end of the opening quarter.
Philadelphia led by as many as 18 points in the second, but Trent went on a 7-0 run by himself to help Toronto narrow that lead to 10 with 3:01 left in the half. The Sixers outscored the Raptors 10-5 in the final three minutes of the second, with Oubre sinking a buzzer-beating three as the visitors took a 71-55 lead into intermission.
A 10-4 Raptors run, capped by a Javon Freeman-Liberty field goal, brought the hosts to within seven with 1:20 left in the third quarter. Despite that small surge, Philadelphia led 101-93 heading into the fourth.
That was as close as the hosts would get, with the 76ers — trying to gain ground the in the Eastern Conference’s play-in race — pouring it on. Payne had 14 points and Harris nine in the period alone.
LOWRY LOVE — Sixers point guard Kyle Lowry and head coach Nick Nurse both got loud ovations from the fans at Scotiabank Arena during pre-game introductions. Lowry and Nurse were both a part of the Raptors’ championship team in 2019.
UP NEXT — The Raptors host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Philadelphia welcomes the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
