By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It was a tale of two halves at Wells Fargo Center as the Sixers dropped their fourth straight game on Thursday night to the Toronto Raptors by a score of 114-109.
Jerryd Bayless opened the socring for the Sixers with four quick points, but DeMar DeRozan soon took over in the first quarter, scoring 15 points in the opening frame thanks to a very uncharacteristic four three pointers from the mid-range specialist.
The Sixers gathered themselves despite DeRozan's outburst and closed the first quarter on a 14-7 run that gave the Sixers a 31-30 lead after one.
Dario Saric kept the Sixers momentum going in the second quarter by doing it all. The Homie finished the first half with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and a block, as he teased a triple double with remarkably efficient play.
Saric was not the the only Sixer to come up big in the first half, however. Robert Covington led all Sixers with 14 first half points, which included going 4-of-6 from deep.
Ben Simmons played aggressively scoring 10 points after going 5-of-7 from the field thanks to a fearless approach to attacking the rim.
After a 19-7 run to close the second quarter the Sixers led 65-52 at halftime
DeRozan led all players in the first half with 24 points. The rest of the Raptors' team scored 28 points.
The Sixers spread the scoring out with Covington and Simmons in double figures and Dario Saric and Jerryd Bayless both scoring nine points.
The Sixers' bench – led by Richaun Holmes's eight points – outscored the Raptors bench 19-8 in the first half.
The Sixers built off of their second quarter momentum in the second half, extending their lead to 22 points.
Unfortunately the Raptors stormed back and cut the Sixers lead to two points after a mammoth 22-2 run.
Once again Derozan killed the Sixers, eclipsing his career mark for made threes in a game in the third quarter and tallying 34 points through three quarters.
Amir Johnson gave the Sixers a lifeline late in the third quarter by scoring six consecutive points to preserve the lead.
The Sixers led 88-86 after three despite getting outscored 34-23 in the quarter.
The Sixers managed to stave off the Raptors for much of the fourth quarter but Toronto would reclaim the lead for the first time since the first quarter in the back half of the final frame after Kyle Lowry hit three foul shots giving the Raptors a one point lead.
The Sixers would trade leads with the Raptors before a poor offensive foul call on a Ben Simmons made field goal gave the Raptors possession and control of the game.
Demar DeRozan scored a career-high 45 points to go with his career-high six three-pointers. Villanova product Kyle Lowry added 23 points as the duo combined for 68 of the Raptors 114 points. Serge Ibaka and Delon Wright both scored 12 to join DeRozan and Lowry as the only Raptors in double figures.
Ben Simmons led the Sixers with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. All five Sixers' starters were in double figures and Richaun Holmes added 15 off of the bench.
Dario Saric finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high nine assists. Unfortunately the Sixers could not reward Saric for what was a spectacular night for The Homie.
The Sixers will go on the road to play the Raptors again on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
