Raptors at 76ers
The Toronto Raptors are playing at a different level than their Atlantic Division counterparts as they stalk the Cleveland Cavaliers for Eastern Conference supremacy. The Raptors will try to earn their fourth straight win and vanquish another Atlantic rival when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
Toronto won nine of its last 10 games - the lone loss a 116-112 setback to the Cavaliers - and won at Boston to put its foot down on the Atlantic before breezing to a 122-100 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. "Our standards have got to be higher," Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters after bemoaning his team's defensive effort in Monday's easy win. "We can't be satisfied with a win, we're trying to achieve other things to see the big picture." The 76ers are winners of back-to-back road games and are trusting each other on offense while racking up an assist percentage surpassed only by the Golden State Warriors over the last month. "We’re proud of our ball movement, we’re trying to grow it," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told reporters. "In general, I think our ball movement (recently) has been very good."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Toronto), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (17-7): Toronto had little trouble negotiating the length of the Bucks and went 14-of-25 from 3-point range on Monday, led by Terrence Ross' 4-of-6 effort off the bench. "I mean, we have a whole bunch of great scorers, so when anybody gets going, it's infectious," Ross told the Toronto Star. "Everybody kinda gets in a rhythm, once you make a shot, somebody else makes a shot. It's a good feeling. I think it kinda spreads throughout the team." Kyle Lowry continued his stretch of good shooting by going 5-of-9 from the floor on Monday and is shooting 59.2 percent over the last eight games.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (6-18): Lowry's hot shooting stretch began in a 122-95 home win over Philadelphia on Nov. 28, but the 76ers look like a different team in the last two games. Philadelphia went to work on the defensive end to earn back-to-back road wins while holding the New Orleans Pelicans and Detroit Pistons to an average of 83.5 points. "I think it really was a Philly-hard effort," Brown told reporters after Sunday's 97-79 win in Detroit. "This was a team result, and I feel like, as a team, we responded."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors SG DeMar DeRozan went 15-of-15 from the free-throw line on Monday and is 40-of-41 from the stripe in the last four contests.
2. 76ers C Nerlens Noel made his season debut on Sunday but left after 10 minutes with an ankle injury and is day-to-day.
3. Philadelphia C Joel Embiid (elbow) sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.