Sixers continue slide into the abyss with loss at Toronto

Toronto, ON -- You know things are bad when the comparisons to the infamous 1972-73 team start to rear their ugly head so early. 

Not even the awful teams from the mid-90s under John Lucas and Johnny Davis could claim the stretch of futility this years' Sixers are enduring.

DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points in limited action as the Toronto Raptors rolled to a 120-88 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers -- who have gone 0-7 for the first time since those record-setters dropped the season's first 15 outings.

DeRozan shot 8-of-12 before sitting the entire fourth quarter with the game well in hand. Terrence Ross had 17 points and Louis Williams dropped 16 off the bench against his former team.

"Our intensity during the whole game was good," Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. "I think that's how you get better as a team."

Toronto led by 41 late in the fourth, one point shy of the biggest win in franchise history, but the Sixers closed the gap with a 13-4 run to finish the game. The Raptors beat Miami 96-54 in 2008.
The Raptors have won four straight games.

Tony Wroten led Philly with 18 points and Chris Johnson finished with 16 off the bench. The Sixers have the dreaded Texas road trip on deck, as meetings with Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are next on the schedule.

"We came in here and we got manhandled," Philadelphia head coach Brett Brown. "They have elite athletes that can score."

The good news for Philadelphia is reigning rookie of the year Michael Carter- Williams is set to make his season debut this week. Carter-Williams missed the entire preseason after undergoing shoulder surgery this summer, but practiced this week and didn't suffer any setbacks.

DeRozan converted a pair of three-point plays and made a technical free throw to account for seven of Toronto's first nine points. The Raptors began to pull away at the end of the first and led 33-20 after 12 minutes.

The margin hovered in the teens for all of the second quarter and into the third, when Toronto created some distance. Ross' driving layup at 7:39 of the period started a 12-2 flurry that DeRozan capped with his tip-in.

Williams beat the buzzer with a long two, and the Raptors led 88-63 through three. Ross hit consecutive threes midway through the fourth, putting the finishing touches on the blowout.

Notes: The Raptors shot 43-of-76 (56.6 percent) from the floor and 27-of-30 from the free throw line ... Toronto won the rebounding margin, 39-31.