Did the Raptors send the Philadelphia 76ers a message yesterday?

"If there was a message, I didn't get it," defiant Sixers centre Dikembe Mutombo said. "Maybe they missed me."

The Raptors didn't miss much else, running circles around the Sixers in a 107-88 thrashing at the Air Canada Centre. The Sixers had won seven games in a row but they were beaten yesterday in every aspect to drop to 7-6 on the season.

"Something unusual happened: We got out-hustled," said Philly guard Allen Iverson, whose team eliminated the Raptors last spring in a memorable seven-game NBA playoff series. Iverson scored 18 points yesterday while shooting an ugly 7-for-24 from the field.

"They beat us to a lot of loose balls and they started the game off well," Iverson said, referring to Toronto's 11-0 start. "We were able to get back into it and then we fell off a little bit. They just played better than us."