The Toronto Raptors survived a late scare in winning their season opener on Halloween night.

Andrea Bargnani scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the final five minutes as the Raptors pulled away for a 106-97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in front of 19,800 fans at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.

Andrea Bargnani whoops it up in Wednesday's 106-97 Raptors win.
(J.P. Moczulski/Canadian Press)

Toronto led by as much as 22 points and took an 81-67 lead into the fourth quarter, but watched it shrink to one point before Bargnani swung the momentum back in its favour.

With the Sixers threatening late, Bargnani, last year's No. 1 draft pick overall, poured in eight points in a span of 2:44 to provide Toronto with a comfortable lead.

The seven-foot sophomore finished 6-of-11 from the floor, pulled down five rebounds and blocked two shots in 22½ minutes.

"They have a scrappy basketball team," Raptors centre Chris Bosh said. "We have a few things to work on."
 
Led by Bargnani, the Raptors showed a willingness to share the basketball, with each of the 12 players dressed seeing no less than 6½ minutes of action.

Bosh contributed 17 points and two blocks, while T.J. Ford scored 14 points and doled out a game-high 12 assists.

"We have got stuff we want to prove to ourselves," Ford said. "We want to prove that we are a good basketball team."

Anthony Parker had 13 points, as did Jose Calderon, who combined with Ford for 27 points, 15 assists and a mere two turnovers from the point-guard position.

"Ford and Calderon did great," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "If you look at their stat line, it was unbelievable."

"We are great partners and we just try to play our game," Calderon claimed. "The two of us, we look good out there.

"I'm happy when we play like we did tonight. I think T.J. thinks the same way."

"That is how it has to be all year," Ford explained. "When we play well, the guys are able to get open and guys will continue to have that confidence."

Newcomers Jason Kapono, who led the NBA in three-point shooting last season, and Carlos Delfino, acquired in a trade with the Detroit Pistons, scored nine and seven points, respectively.

Andre Iguodala led all scorers with 23 points for the Sixers.

Kyle Korver came off the bench to net 20 points, Andre Miller had 15 points, and Willie Green 12.

Montreal resident Samuel Dalembert finished with four points, six rebounds and a game-best four blocks.

Reggie Evans topped all rebounders with 15 in a losing cause.

"We put ourselves in such a hole — down 22 points," Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Toronto is a good basketball team the way they spread the floor and kick the ball to different players."

Bargnani comes up big

Bargnani played limited minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but keyed a 19-5 burst in the third quarter as the Raptors built up a 77-55 lead.

Toronto began to relax at that point, and the Sixers simply whittled away. 
 
Iguodala netted a three-point basket to slice it to one at 88-87 with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter, but Bargnani responded with six straight points.

First, Bargnani nailed two free throws, but Iguodala scored a running jump shot to make it 90-89.

Then, Bargnani was fouled as he landed a lengthy trey and popped in the free throw to complete a rare four-point play.

"They were an important four points," he said. "I received a very nice pass.

"I was hoping it would come to me. I was a little lucky."

Ford followed with two free throws to put Toronto ahead 96-89 with 3:51 left, but Miller scored a layup to reduce the deficit to five points.

Iguodala trimmed it to 96-95 with a slam dunk, only to watch Ford set up Delfino for a short-range jumper and Bargnani put in two free throws to make it 100-93 with 2:22 remaining.

After Iguodala drained two free throws, Ford answered with a stylish finger roll, and Kapano knocked down a jumper as Toronto surged ahead 104-95 heading into the final minute.

Calderon completed the scoring, countering a Dalembert dunk with two free throws that produced the final margin.

The Raptors hope to duplicate, if not improve on, last season's success, when they finished 47-35 overall and won their first Atlantic Division title before bowing out in six games to the New Jersey Nets in the opening round of the playoffs.

For their efforts, Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo was named NBA executive of the year and Mitchell merited top coaching honours.

Toronto visits New Jersey on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET).

With files from the Canadian Press