TORONTO – With two starters sidelined with injuries, this could well have been an ugly stretch for the Toronto Raptors.
But Luis Scola is doing his part to make sure it’s not.
Scola scored 14 of his 22 points in the first quarter to help the Raptors to a 96-76 victory over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
“Starting games well is something that’s helped me a lot during my career, it’s something I did good a lot of times,” said Scola, who talked to the media while his young son – one of four children – lounged in his locker.
“So I think the team might benefit from it, since I’m starting, it’s a good chance for me to do that.”
The Raptors, who are without Jonas Valanciunas (broken hand) and DeMarre Carroll (knee contusion), also got 25 points and eight rebounds from DeMar DeRozan. Kyle Lowry scored 16 points, and Bismack Biyombo had a team-high nine boards for the Raptors (16-9), who ended their six-game homestand with four straight wins after opening with a pair of losses.
Scola, signed by Toronto in the off-season, shot 10-for-14 from the field, and has scored in double figures in four of the last five games.
“He’s one of our engines. He runs hard. He plays hard,” said Lowry. “For a guy to be his age (35) to push and work as hard as he does, it’s motivation.
“He just knows the game. He knows where he’s supposed to be. It makes the job a lot easier, makes passes easier, just understanding where he knows where the next player is going to be.”
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.
“We lost them in transition,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “Human nature is you think the game is over, a couple of threes and it’s a new ball game. I’ve said this. . . we’re not good enough to mess with the game because the game will turn around and mess with you if you do that. You have to make sure you tend to business for 48 minutes.”
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.
Sixers forward Nerlens Noel went to hospital after the game with an eye injury, and coach Brett Brown wasn’t sure if he would fly with the team.
“We’re just taking precautionary measures with us being 40,000 feet in the air,” Brown said. “It’s a corneal abrasion, and we’ll learn more.”
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 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.
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