By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (14-18) couldn't keep up with the Toronto Raptors (23-8) in game one of their five-game road trip tonight, falling by a final score of 102-86. The Sixers have now lost five in a row and nine of their last 10. The win for Toronto was their sixth in a row and their 12th in the last 13 games. Philadelphia has now lost 10 straight games at the Air Canada Center.
Once again, turnovers plagued the Sixers. They turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, 10 times in the second quarter alone, resulting in 21 points for the Raptors. They took better care of the ball in the second half, but still ended up with 23 turnovers.
The Sixers just lacked energy for the majority of this one and normally a guy like Richaun Holmes would help bring a spark off the bench, but he only got mop-up minutes late in the fourth. It was a bit frustrating not to see him out there, especially when the team was in clear need of some spunk tonight.
In his first game back since December 15 against Oklahoma City, Joel Embiid was rusty as expected. The Sixers big man finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists while also turning the ball over a team-high five times. Dario Saric continues to put together strong efforts and tonight was no different as the Croatian forward scored 17 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Ben Simmons was ineffective pretty much all game, scoring just 10 points in addition to six assists and five rebounds. Amir Johnson was the only Sixer with a postive plus-minus, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds off the bench.
Robert Covington and Jerryd Bayless, the two perimeter scorers in the starting lineup, combined to go just 4-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. The Sixers shot just 7-for-27 from three-point range.
On Toronto's end, DeMar DeRozan continued to haunt the Sixers. After scoring 45 points in Philadelphia on Thursday, DeRozan caught fire in the second half, finishing with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists. Serge Ibaka contributed with 13 points and six rebounds.
Joel Embiid didn't waste too much time getting involved in his first game action since last Friday against the Thunder. Embiid scored the Sixers' first eight points in a five minute run to get them going in the first. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had a strong first quarter, scoring five points while also dishing out a trio of assists, driving into the lane on a number of occasions. Instead of settling for three's, TLC played to his strengths and it showed. The Sixers and Raptors ended the first tied at 27, with Toronto getting a combined 21 points from Serge Ibaka (13) and DeMar DeRozan (8).
The Raptors started the second quarter off nicely, taking advantage of Sixers turnover miscues to get out to a six-point lead a little more than four minutes into the quarter. Philadelphia drew to within one after a Robert Covington triple made it a 38-37 game just over the halfway mark of the second, but Toronto responded by scoring five of the next six points to go back up by five with 4:21 left in the half. The Raptors ended the half up by nine, 55-46, due in large part to 10 Sixers second quarter turnovers. Philadelphia scored just 19 points in the second, being outscored by nine.
After the first 24 minutes of action, the Sixers had 14 turnovers, resulting in 21 points for the Raptors. Joel Embiid only scored two points after his first stint on the floor in the opening quarter, finishing the half with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Dario Saric had eight points and two boards at the half. On Toronto's end, Serge Ibaka went scoreless in the second quarter, but still led Raptors scorers with 13. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Toronto scored seven of the first nine points in the third quarter, extending their lead to 14 early in the second half. Philadelphia put an 8-1 run together to climb to within seven, 63-56, with 7:10 left in the third, powered by six points from Ben Simmons and two from Embiid. The Sixers cut the lead to four after Dario made one of two from the line at the halfway point of the quarter. They wouldn't get any closer, though, as DeMar DeRozan caught fire to power a Raptors run to extend their advantage to 14, 75-63. Toronto closed the third on a 16-2 run when it was all set and done, leading 81-63 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Not too much exciting to mention from the fourth quarter. A Dario Saric three cut the lead to 12 just past the halfway point of the quarter, but Toronto came right back and got their lead back up to 16.
Up Next:
The Sixers continue their five-game road trip on Christmas Day in New York for a matchup with Kristaps Porzingis and the New York Knicks. Tip-off is set for 12:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.
