TORONTO _ The 76ers have been predictable in an NBA bullying kind of way.
Play an overmatched team at the Wells Fargo Center, and they'll win. Play a playoff-caliber squad on the road, and they'll lose.
Their home-and-road trend continued Tuesday night when the Toronto Raptors rolled to a 129-112 victory.
The Sixers (4-4) have lost all of their road games, to the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, and now the Raptors (7-1). Meanwhile, their four victories at home came against the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, and Chicago Bulls. Those squads had a combined 9-17 record heading into Tuesday night's league games.
But this setback also marked the Sixers 12th straight road loss in games against the Raptors. Toronto has also won 19 of 21 series meetings dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season.
On this night, the Sixers dug a deep hole that was hard to overcome. Toronto had a commanding 14-point cushion at the half and extended its lead to 26 points in the third quarter.
The Sixers cut the lead to six points with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining when Joel Embiid drained a three-pointer to cap his run of eight consecutive points.
However, the Raptors responded with a 12-0 run to take a 129-111 lead after Kawhi Leonard's basket with 33 seconds left. Embiid paced the Sixers with 31 points to go with 11 rebounds. Covington added 15 points.
But for the most part, the visiting team had a rough night until they came to life in fourth quarter.
Ben Simmons finished with 11 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds to post his sixth double-double of the season. However, the point guard had a season-worst 11 turnovers. The team finished with 23 turnovers, another low mark for the season.
JJ Redick had 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting (3 of 11 on 3-pointers). Redick had just three points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half. He came into the game averaging 19.3 points per game.
Markelle Fultz had eight points on 3-for-10 shooting.
Meanwhile, Leonard paced the Raptors with 31 points. Center Jonas Valanciunas added 23 points, while Villanova product Kyle Lowry added 20 points and a game-high 12 assists.
Back in July, the Raptors beat out the Sixers in the Leonard sweepstakes.
Toronto acquired him and Danny Green from the San Antonio Spurs for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round draft pick.
The Sixers made a trade offer for him to San Antonio with the hope that Leonard would become their third star to play alongside Simmons and Embiid.
Leonard left the game in the second quarter after being scratched in the eye by Covington with 8:51 left in the half. He went to the locker room to get checked and returned to play at the 5:02 mark.
This was the two-time All-Star's sixth game of the season. Leonard missed the team's two road games due to what the squad called load management. He only played nine games last season in San Antonio while nursing a quadriceps injury.
