TORONTO - His first points in nearly two months came just two minutes into Wednesday's game on a fadeaway jump shot — classic DeMar DeRozan.

The Raptors all-star scored a team-high 20 points to lead Toronto to a 100-84 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, showing little rust in his much-anticipated return from a groin injury.

Lou Williams finished with 19 points for Toronto (26-12), while Kyle Lowry had 18 points and 12 assists. Jonas Valanciunas added 12 points, while Amir Johnson finished with 10.

Michael Carter-Williams scored 29 points to top the Sixers (7-31).

DeRozan had missed 21 games with a torn groin tendon, suffered when driving to the basket on Nov. 28 versus Dallas. His tiny daughter Diar, wearing a Raptors jersey — the back read "Mini DeRozan" — was there to watch her dad's return, which was good timing for a team that sorely needed him.

The Raptors initially managed well without him, winning 11 of their first 15 games. But they dropped five of their last six, including Monday's 114-111 loss to Detroit. And looming Friday: the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks.

The Air Canada Centre fans welcomed DeRozan back with a standing ovation when he was announced in the starting lineup, and again the first time he handled the ball — a shot that rimmed out. He would shoot 9-for-14 overall on the night in 29 minutes of floor time.

The Raptors led the entire night, and were up by as many as 16 first-half points against a Philly team that they'd clobbered 120-88 on Nov. 9. The Sixers managed to pull to within two points just before halftime, but the Raptors cobbled together a 71-61 lead with one quarter left to play.

The Raptors led by double digits for the majority of the fourth quarter, and a bucket by DeRozan, followed up by back-to-back three-pointers from Lowry stretched Toronto's advantage to 96-78 with 3:16 to play, and put the game out of reach.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey said DeRozan's first game was about getting "the rust off the pipes," and that the team would play it safe with his minutes after the most serious injury of his career — DeRozan had missed just 11 games in his first five seasons in the NBA.

"I don't want to do anything that's going to jeopardize his health, or reinjure it, Lord forbid, so if he looks like he's labouring or winded or whatever, we're going to be smart about that," Casey said pre-game. "It's not for one game or one night or one week, it's for the rest of his career for this type of injury."

DeRozan also had four rebounds and three assists. The Raptors outshot their visitors 46 per cent to 39 per cent, and won the battle of the boards 49-45.

DeRozan led the way with his six points in the first quarter, as the Raptors raced out to a 13-0 lead. Williams drained a three at the buzzer to send Toronto into the second quarter with a 34-19 lead.

A dunk by Tyler Hansbrough gave the Raptors a 16-point lead midway through the second, but the Sixers went on a 21-7 run, capped by a driving dunk from Carter-Williams, to cut Toronto's advantage to just two points with 1:11 to play. The Raptors led 50-46 at halftime.

A three-pointer by Williams that put Toronto up by 13 points punctuated a third quarter that saw the Raptors outscore Philly 21-15.