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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
TORONTO (AP) -- Vince Carter, roughed up by the Houston Rockets
all game, was the one in charge at the end.
Carter's power dunk with 1.6 seconds remaining Sunday gave
Toronto a 100-98 win over Houston, the Raptors' 11th victory in
their last 12 games.
|  | | Toronto's Vince Carter took this second-quarter spill but stood tall at game's end. |
Carter, who had 37 points, took an inbounds pass from Tracy
McGrady with 11 seconds left. Carter allowed about seven of those
to tick away while he stood near the baseline, before blowing past Shandon Anderson for a dunk to deal Houston its seventh loss in a
row.
"He took one dribble and jumped. There was no time to
recover," said Anderson, who led Houston with 25 points. "He was
pointing, pointing and pointing and then -- bam."
McGrady was impressed by his teammate.
"I've never seen anything like that," McGrady said. "It seems
like once he gets past you, he goes up so strong, you got to get
out of the way."
Carter, knocked to the floor twice earlier in the game, scowled
after the winning play.
"When it happens there's a lot of anger," Carter said of the
rough treatment from the Rockets. "You just have to let your game
speak for yourself."
A Carter 3-pointer, which bounced on the rim six times before
going in with 30 seconds remaining, gave the Raptors a 98-96 lead.
"I've never seen a ball bounce that many times," said
Houston's Steve Francis, who finished with 16 points and seven
assists.
Carter's driving layup though double coverage gave Toronto a
93-92 lead with 1:55 remaining. But Hakeem Olajuwon followed with a
10-foot jumper to put Houston ahead.
After Toronto's Antonio Davis missed a 12-foot jumper, and Kevin
Willis missed a tip-in, McGrady put the ball in to give Toronto a
95-94 lead with just over a minute remaining. Olajuwon's six-foot
jumper put Houston ahead 96-95, but Carter followed with his
improbable 3-pointer.
"Only special players get those," Houston coach Rudy
Tomjanovich said.
Cuttino Mobley's finger-roll layup over Carter tied it at 98.
Francis was called for a flagrant foul when he clotheslined
Carter in the second quarter.
"That was a real hard foul," McGrady said, "but it seems like every time he comes back from something like that he's a different man."
Carter was also knocked to the floor by Kelvin Cato in the
fourth quarter.
"I feel like I've been through a car wreck," Carter said. "I
have a little headache right now. You just have to play through
it."
Kevin Willis had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto.
Carter had 18 points and McGrady 12 as the Raptors led 52-40 at the half.
Game notes
With the loss, the Rockets (24-42) snapped their streak of
consecutive non-losing seasons at 15. The Utah Jazz currently have
a streak of 17 seasons. The record for consecutive non-losing
seasons is 19, accomplished by the Boston Celtics from 1950-69. ...
Before the game, fans booed Francis, who refused to play in
Vancouver after the team drafted him. ... Antonio Davis, who missed
the previous two games with a bruised right calf, had nine points
in 15 minutes.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
LA Lakers 92
New York 85
Utah 92
New Jersey 88
Toronto 100
Houston 98
Detroit 101
Vancouver 99
Dallas 89
Atlanta 85
Philadelphia 89
Orlando 85
Minnesota 109
Milwaukee 82
Phoenix 99
Golden State 82
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