TORONTO - The game marked the return of Rudy Gay, but the night belonged to the Toronto Raptors.

Terrence Ross scored 18 points to lead the Raptors to a 99-87 victory over Sacramento on Friday, the Kings' first visit since the mammoth seven-player deal in December that sent Gay to the west coast.

On a night that no one truly shone, but every Raptor was solid, Toronto showed just how much it has improved since the roster remake.

DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson scored 15 points apiece, while Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and Amir Johnson had nine rebounds to go with nine points for the Raptors (34-26), who've won eight of their last 10 games.

DeMarcus Cousins topped Sacramento (22-40) with 24 points, while Gay had 15.

The Raptors led for all but the game's opening two minutes and pulled away in the third quarter to take an 80-63 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Toronto led by as much as 23 points in the fourth. The Kings would cut that to 10 points on a Ben McLemore three-pointer with a minute to go that made the game seem closer than it was.

The night marked Gay's first trip back to Toronto since Raptors GM Masai Ujiri shipped him, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento for Greivis Vasquez, Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes on Dec. 9, just 18 games into the season.

The Raptors were 6-12 when Ujiri rewrote his roster, and Toronto has gone 28-14 since to sit third in the Eastern Conference.

Gay received a smattering off boos during the Kings' introductions, and again when he had Sacramento's first basket, but the level of hostility was nothing like that for former Raptors Vince Carter or even Andrea Bargnani when they play in Toronto.

The loudest jeers — and cheers — of the night came when Gay threw down a huge one-handed dunk but was called for travelling.

Of the former Kings, Patterson had the strongest night against his former team, scoring on an array of shots, including a pretty put-back basket and huge alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter that brought the crowd of 18,658 to its feet. He was 3-for-4 from three-point range.

The Raptors shot 47 per cent on the night to the Kings' 42. The Raptors were the superior team from long range, shooting 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Kings went just 5-for-19 from three-point range.

Toronto looked rejuvenated from a rare four days off without a game, racing out to an early eight-point lead in a foul-filled first quarter. The Raptors were up 29-19 going into the second.

The Raptors stretched their lead to 13 early in the second and then went cold, shooting 33 per cent in the quarter and allowing the Kings to pull to within two points. Toronto took a 51-44 into the dressing room at halftime.

Ross poured in nine points in the third including a three with 3:13 left that put the Raptors up by 15, their biggest lead to that point. A layup by Patterson with three seconds left sent Toronto into the fourth quarter with an 80-63 advantage.

NOTES: The Raptors are in Minnesota on Sunday and Brooklyn on Monday then return to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. . . Toronto, which beat Golden State 104-98 at ACC last Sunday, hasn't dropped back to back home games since losing three straight in late November.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2014