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The Toronto Raptors are leaving Philadelphia with a victory Wednesday night after out-battling the struggling 76ers 108-98. DeMar DeRozan led the way with 33 points, hitting 3 threes in the process; Rudy Gay followed up with a clean 18-8-8 albeit with a 6 for 16 night. Michael Carter-Williams came back to play after missing the last 4 with a sore foot. The rookie played 33 minutes in his return.
RAPTOR NOTES
- DeMar went for 33 tonight, after going for 29 and 37 against the Trail Blazers and Bulls respectively. He's really picking up his offensive game all-around recently, firing a nice 50% from the field in that 3 game span. The same cannot be said for Rudy Gay; still struggling from the field. However, he did contribute with a career-high 8 assists.
- Steve Novak got some early burn tonight; after Amir Johnson picked up 2 early fouls. Novak's threat from deep is a weapon the Raptors have missed in recent games. It'll be interesting to see how Coach Casey uses him in the lineup in the upcoming games.
- A bright spot lately has been Terrence Ross. Looks like Casey is learning to trust the sophomore a little more as Ross' all-around game has improved in the short term. He added 17 points off the bench.
76ERS NOTES
- Spencer Hawes had a nice game for the 76ers in tonight's loss. He had the hot hand tonight, but his team couldn't claw back with him.
- Roughly an hour before game-time, the Philadelphia 76ers announced they waived Kwame Brown and Darius Morris, then followed that by signing Elliot Williams and Lorenzo Brown. It's a transaction that would assume their management is pushing harder for the tank.
The Raptors took over the Atlantic Division lead tonight, the last time they held it was in 2007. The Raptors come back home to battle the John Wall and the Washington Wizards on Friday.