Once the Toronto Raptors started running, the Philadelphia 76ers could not slow them down.
Alvin Williams and a host of reserves led a second-quarter assault and the Raptors rarely relented in a 100-85 over the Philadelphia 76ers, who suffered their fifth straight road loss.
Williams had 14 points and 13 assists and did a credible job on NBA scoring leader Allen Iverson, who managed just 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting before sitting down for good midway through the third quarter.
Williams handed out 11 assists in the first half, when Toronto raced to a 63-39 lead and made the 76ers look like the Eastern Conference's worst team rather than its best. He scored eight points in a 29-3 second-quarter run during which the Raptors repeatedly beat the defensive-minded Sixers downcourt for dunks and layups.
"We've wanted to push the ball more and more by controlling the ball," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "It allowed us to push the ball upcourt and we hit our shots."
"I haven't been in a game where a team had 35 points on the fast break in the first half, plus they had 22 assists and only one turnover," Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "They manhandled us. We took bad shots and we didn't guard. Everybody on their team made a significant contribution."
Reserves Keon Clark and Chris Childs scored 11 points apiece and also were in the middle of the explosion in the second quarter that gave Toronto a 59-33 lead. The Raptors also got a spark from backup forward Jerome Williams, who scored six points in the period.
"Alvin distributed the ball really well and I thought Chris and Alvin played well together," Wilkens said. "When you run and push the ball, you get into a rhythm. Guys were catching the ball and making shots."
"Everyone had energy tonight," Clark added. "It wasn't just myself or Jerome coming off the bench. ... Tonight was the smoothest offense we had all year. Nobody was forcing or rushing anything. We still need to be consistent."
Vince Carter scored 26 points for the Raptors, who never trailed and defeated the Sixers for the third consecutive time, becoming the only team thus far to take the season series from Philadelphia.
"They hit shots and we just did a bad job," Iverson said. "They outhustled us, and we rarely get outhustled."
The Raptors (41-33) won for the fifth time in six games and moved one game ahead of Orlando for sixth place in the East.
The Sixers (51-23) have lost seven of their last 10 games and fell one game behind San Antonio for the league's best record. The magic number for clinching their first Atlantic Division title since 1990 remained three.
Iverson's layup gave Philadelphia a 30-30 tie with 9:46 left in the second quarter before Toronto's onslaught began with consecutive fast-break dunks by Carter and Antonio Davis.
A jumper by Childs made it 40-30 with 7:46 remaining before a free throw by Philadelphia's Tyrone Hill only briefly slowed the deluge.
For the next five minutes, Williams thwarted Iverson at one end and scored or set up teammates at the other. Dunks by Clark and Jerome Williams preceded a 3-pointer by Childs that capped the explosion at 59-33 with 2:33 to go. Philadelphia called three timeouts during the burst.
"I thought we played good team defense, especially on Iverson," Alvin Williams said. "The guys were making shots and as a point guard, it made my job easier. They asked me to stick him (Iverson) and I did my best to make his shots difficult."
Any chance the Sixers had of getting back into the game ended when the Raptors scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, opening their largest lead at 74-39 on a tip-in by former Sixer Eric Montross with 8:39 left. Brown emptied his bench shortly thereafter.
Montross was a surprise starter for Charles Oakley, who was suspended one game by the NBA for hitting Sixers forward Tyrone Hill with a thrown basketball during Tuesday's shootaround. Montross had season highs of six points and 11 rebounds.
