PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers' march to respectability has been long and difficult, but they are finally starting to reach some milestones.

On Wednesday night, they beat the Toronto Raptors for the first time in exactly four years, 94-89, behind 26 points and nine rebounds from Joel Embiid, as well as a stingy defense.

"We're playing with a spirit, with a defensive mindset and there's a belief among the team that is the best since I've been here," said coach Brett Brown, whose Sixers ended a 14-game losing streak to Toronto.

The Raptors, the Eastern Conference's second-best team and the league's second-most efficient offensive team, shot 39.5 percent from the floor and missed 18 of 24 3-point attempts.

"We're coming together, especially defensively," said Embiid, a rookie center. "Everybody's buying into the system and we're starting to win some games."

The Sixers, who last beat Toronto on Jan. 18, 2013, won for the fifth time in six games, and the seventh time in nine. Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 points, and T.J. McConnell notched four of his 10 in a pivotal 7-0 run late in the game.

"That gives us a lot of confidence," Embiid said of the victory. "Coming into the game we had a lot of confidence and winning against the second-best team in the East is just amazing."

The Sixers, who led most of the night, went up 81-74 on a 3-pointer by Dario Saric with 5:50 left.

Toronto's DeMar DeRozan crammed 10 of his 14 fourth-quarter points into the next 3:40, keying a 12-4 flurry.

DeRozan's final basket in that rush, a jumper from the right elbow, put Toronto up 86-85 with 1:53 remaining.

Embiid made a free throw to tie it, and after a DeRozan miss, McConnell took a pass from Robert Covington and converted a layup with 1:10 remaining to put the Sixers ahead for good.

"I was surprised I was that wide open," said McConnell, who also beat the Knicks with a last-second jumper last week. "I don't think there was a guy within three or four feet of me. (Covington) passed it to me and I saw the lane and took it."

McConnell added two free throws with 35.2 seconds left. Embiid made two more with 20.7 seconds to play, giving the Sixers a 92-86 lead.

Embiid missed a practice Tuesday and a shootaround Wednesday because of illness but backstopped the Sixers' defense with two blocked shots. Nik Stauskas also had two and Saric provided two others during a spirited fourth-quarter stretch.

"I thought we played great defense," Embiid said. "Everybody did his job and we were aggressive."

DeRozan finished with 25 points and Kyle Lowry added 24 for Toronto, which saw a four-game winning streak snapped. Jonas Valanciunas collected 10 points and 16 rebounds.

"I think we got everything we wanted (at the offensive end)," Lowry said. "We just missed a lot of shots."

Nor did he think the Sixers offense presented a great challenge.

"We didn't play physical enough," he said. "We held them to 94 points. We just had 89 points. They won the game. Give them credit. They played with passion and energy. That's one thing they got us on tonight."

Lowry, who rested while the Raptors beat Brooklyn on Tuesday night, went 5 of 13 from the floor and committed five of Toronto's 11 turnovers. He also missed five of 16 free throws, and the Raptors as a team were just 15 of 23 at the line.

"I just think tonight we lost that game," he said. "We lost that game. Give them credit. They played hard, with passion. Give them credit, but we lost that game."

The Sixers opened an 18-8 lead at the beginning of the game behind seven points from Ilyasova and remained in front until a layup by reserve guard Fred VanVleet gave the Raptors a 37-36 advantage with 5:14 left in the second quarter.

Toronto eventually went up by four, but Philadelphia closed the half with a 10-4 flurry to take a 46-44 lead. Embiid scored six of his 13 first-half points during that run, all at the foul line.

Covington added all 10 of his points in the first 24 minutes. Lowry topped Toronto with 12, and Valanciunas had eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Raptors again surged in front early in the third quarter, and again the Sixers answered. Ilyasova had 10 points in the quarter, which ended with Philadelphia on top 68-65.

NOTES: Sixers coach Brett Brown said there is "no chance" of F Ben Simmons (fractured right foot) making his NBA debut Jan. 27 against Houston. There was speculation to that effect Tuesday, after Simmons posted two photos of himself doing on-court drills on Instagram. He did that shortly after the NBA announced that the game against the Rockets would be bumped to 8 p.m. and would be televised by ESPN instead of the Chicago-Miami game. ESPN.com's Chris Haynes, citing unnamed sources, reported that Simmons will make his debut shortly after next month's All-Star break. ... Philadelphia G T.J. McConnell (wrist) and C/F Nerlens Noel (ankle) returned after sitting out the Monday victory in Milwaukee. ... Toronto C Lucas Nogueira did not play and is in the NBA's concussion protocol after taking a blow to the head in the first quarter of Tuesday's victory over the Nets. ... Raptors F Patrick Patterson missed his fourth consecutive game with a sore left knee, and F DeMarre Carroll suffered a neck injury in the third quarter. He did not return, and is day to day. ... Toronto F Jared Sullinger made his season debut after missing the first 41 games following foot surgery. He had eight points and three rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.