TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors played their final home game of 2016 before hitting the road for a six-game trip on Tuesday night and breezed to a 116-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

These are teams going in different directions. The Raptors won for the 12th time in their past 14 games in handing the Nets their third straight loss. New Jersey is 1-13 on the road and Toronto is 11-5 at home.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey still feels his team has work to do and the trip will be a test.

"We've got to still continue to shore up our pick-and-roll defense, we had some breakdowns, clear breakdowns tonight, losing guys under the basket going in, not rotating, not cracking in," Casey said. "We have to keep the big picture in mind and make sure we do the little things and continue to improve. It's not going to happen in a day, not going to happen in two games, it's going to be a progressions of games strung together.

"This road trip will be a test for our defense. You've got some high-octane teams in Utah, Portland, Golden State, Phoenix, San Antonio and Lakers, all high-octane offensive teams. Our defense will be put to a test."

Kyle Lowry scored 23 points and added eight assists for the Raptors, who have defeated the Nets in each of their past five meetings.

"Transition defense," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. "I was upset at halftime. I told them team our inability to get back on defense just wasn't good enough. You can miss the shots, you can even turn it over but I thought we didn't get back."

Norman Powell added 21 points off the bench for the Raptors. DeMarre Carroll scored 17 points, DeMar DeRozan had 15 and was rested in the fourth quarter, Cory Joseph scored 11 while Jonas Valanciunas recorded 10 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto (20-8).

"I don't know how many chances or opportunities we had last year where we were able to sit out a fourth quarter and play 30 and under minutes but it's great," DeRozan said. "It keeps us feeling good. As long as we take care of business in that first half and in that third quarter and give ourselves that chance to be able to rest, I think it's going to be beneficial."

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 19 points for Brooklyn (7-20) before fouling out with 6:11 to play. Spencer Dinwiddie chipped in with 14 points off the bench, Jeremy Lin added 12 points and Trevor Booker contributed 11 points. Justin Hamilton had five points and 11 rebounds off the bench while Anthony Bennett scored eight points and had 10 rebounds.

"Just disappointed, felt we didn't play as hard as we were supposed to and that's never a good thing," Lin said.

The Raptors led 29-23 after the first quarter Valanciunas finished the first half by sinking two free throws to give Toronto a 64-46 lead.

The Nets scored the first six points of the second half, trimming Toronto's lead to 12. The Raptors soon took over again and built a 20-point lead after a pair of free throws by Valanciunas.

Carroll's 3-pointer with 4:55 to play in the third quarter had the Toronto lead at 23. The Raptors led 91-72 after three quarters.

A 3-pointer by Hollis-Jefferson reduced the Toronto lead to 16 points with 6:46 to play. Joseph's 3-pointer boosted the lead to 18 with two minutes left.

"The first half really wasn't a good half for us," said former Raptor Luis Scola, who started at center for the Nets and had nine points and five rebounds. "We found a way to stay in the game in the first quarter but we weren't really playing well. We didn't really have a lot of intensity. In the second half, on the other hand, we played better. We competed better, our energy was better, we were more focused. It was a little bit of a better feeling."

Lowry feels the upcoming trip is important.

"It's going to be a big one," the point guard said. "We need every game and we are going to go out there and try to play every game as hard as possible."

NOTES: Brooklyn C Brook Lopez (rest) did not play Tuesday. He was being rested for back-to-back games against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. F Luis Scola, a Raptor last season, started at center for the Nets. ... Raptors G Cory Joseph, who missed the win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday because of flu symptoms, was ready to play Tuesday. ... The Raptors recalled G Fred VanVleet and F Bruno Caboclo Tuesday from Raptors 905 of the D-League. Both played in the Raptors 905 day-game at the Air Canada Centre. VanVleet filled in for Joseph Sunday as reserve point guard and had four points, four assists and three steals in 23 minutes. ... The Raptors visit the Utah Jazz Friday open a six-game trip. ..The Nets are home to Golden State on Thursday.