Alvin Jones was simply being rewarded for his work ethic and improvement day after day in practice, 76ers coach Larry Brown said yesterday. The Sixers had activated the rookie center from the injured list Friday and placed a fan favorite, Samuel Dalembert, on it.

"He's lost weight," Brown said of Jones before the Sixers defeated the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. "He's been working hard. That's not a negative on Samuel. He's been doing really good."

After spending the bulk of his rookie season in street clothes, Jones is in uniform - for now. Entering yesterday, he had seen action in five games but had a grim statistics line: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks and 1 field-goal attempt. But yesterday, he finally scored. His first NBA point came on a free throw in the final minute - the only minute he played. "That's another thing that makes this trip even better," Brown said. "He's getting better. He can defend. He can rebound. There's no reason why he can't be a great defender and rebounder in this league in time."

Center Dikembe Mutombo inadvertently hit point guard Eric Snow in the eye in the second half, and Snow needed three stitches after the game to close the gash.

"It's part of basketball," Mutombo said. "Accidents happen. I don't know why it's always me."

As expected, Aaron McKie did not make the trip to Toronto. His sprained left ankle was put in a cast Saturday, and he will continue to get electronic stimulus treatment on the ankle, which he injured Jan. 25 in Boston.

McKie has missed 13 of the last 16 games. When he will return is anyone's guess. Brown said that he thought McKie would be in the cast for four days.

"We'll just see how he feels," Brown said. "I think they were talking about four days. I don't know what that means."

Before yesterday's game, Brown worked with Speedy Claxton on Claxton's intermediate-range jump shot. Brown is an advocate of that shot, one that he says not enough players in the NBA use.

Claxton worked on driving from the perimeter, then popping jumpers from the foul line. The work paid off in the first quarter, when he made 3 of 4 shots and scored seven points in nine minutes.

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