Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) drives to the hoop between Toronto Raptors guard Kobi Simmons (8) and teammate Gradey Dick (1) during second half NBA basketball action in Toronto, Sunday, March 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
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.
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.
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.
