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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Isaac Austin shook off the rumors that he was about to get bounced out of the starting lineup. Then he shook off
a nagging hip injury to give the Washington Wizards a missing
dimension -- an inside game.
Austin had season-high 20 points and 13 rebounds Thursday night
as the Wizards stopped a seven-game losing streak with a 92-81
victory over the Toronto Raptors.
"It's a great step for us," said Austin. "We were in a funk."
Michael Smith and Mitch Richmond, reduced to a reserve role
after starting 808 straight games, added 12 points apiece for
Washington, which hadn't won since its Nov. 2 season opener.
The Wizards were attempting to avert their worst start since beginning the 1966-67 season 1-10.
Washington coach Gar Heard had considered removing Austin from
the starting lineup. But with backup center Jahidi White
unavailable with a sore neck, Austin regained a chance to figure in
the offense.
"We've been taking so many jump shots that we haven't been
going inside and getting to the line," Heard said. "Tonight, we
got the ball inside. Ike wanted me to start the game by going to
him and he was ready to go."
Washington outscored Toronto 38-24 in the paint and made 30 of
37 free throws.
"The team's been trying to get the man in the offense early and that's going to open up shots for everyone," Austin said. "I tried to go to the basket more. ... We needed scoring at that position."
Vince Carter led the Raptors, who had won five of six games to take the Central Division lead, with 23 points. He has scored 20 or
more points in seven straight games, breaking the franchise record
set by Marcus Camby in March 1997.
"It really didn't look like we were in the flow of the game,"
Carter said. "We didn't execute. We have to be mentally strong. We
didn't look very hungry."
Despite a 7-for-27 shooting night, Carter led a fourth-quarter
comeback, scoring six points in an 8-0 run that got the Raptors
within 83-79 with 1:27 to play.
Toronto, trying to tie a franchise mark with its third
consecutive road victory, has seven more November games to break
the team record of five opening-month victories.
Dee Brown had 11 points for the Raptors, whose 81 points were a
season low.
Heard, who promised to shake up his underachieving starting
lineup following a 22-point home loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday,
made only one change. Rookie Richard Hamilton, the team's
third-leading scorer, replaced six-time All-Star Richmond, who was
averaging only 8.9 points per game.
Richmond had never come off the bench in his career. Hamilton
had eight points.
Smith, another of the Wizards' first five rumored headed to the
bench, started and scored all of his points in the first half as
Washington led by as many as a dozen in the second period.
The Raptors ignored coach Butch Carter's pleas to engage
Washington in an up-tempo game for much of the first half. But
Brown hit three of four 3-point attempts and Carter had six
of his 16 first-half points over the final 5:21 and Toronto trailed
50-44 at halftime.
"Our first option is to push it, but for some reason it became
their pace," Toronto guard Muggsy Bogues said. "We didn't get as
many stops as we wanted."
Game notes
Washington placed swingman Laron Profit on the injured list
with tendinitis in his left knee and reactivated Reggie Jordan from the IL. ... Toronto didn't make back-to-back field goals until
midway through the Brown hit a trey and Vince Carter followed with a slam with 6:09 left in the first half. ... The Raptors fell to
7-9 lifetime against Washington.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 92
Toronto 81
Milwaukee 99
San Antonio 88
Sacramento 128
Houston 110
Denver 93
LA Lakers 82
Seattle 110
Vancouver 108
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