RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- When he missed his first six shots, Charles
Oakley's field goal percentage for the season dropped below 26
percent. After he made a 3-pointer from five feet behind the arc,
he rediscovered his touch in a hurry.
Oakley came back to his old home and shot down his former team,
hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and finishing
things off by making two clinching free throws with 4.8 seconds
left Saturday as Toronto defeated New York 79-75.
|  | | Toronto's Vince Carter goes up against Latrell Sprewell on Saturday. |
"I know I'm not one of the best shooters in the league, but I
can shoot and I'm going to keep shooting," Oakley said. "I'm
still off. I just made a couple."
Vince Carter made a couple, too, converting Toronto's final two
field goals on tough shots in the final 2½ minutes as the Raptors
won for the seventh time in their last nine games.
Antonio Davis added 18 rebounds and Mark Jackson had 14 points
and eight assists. Oakley and Corliss Williamson scored 12 points
apiece.
Latrell Sprewell scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth
quarter but missed his final three shots for the Knicks, who were
without point guard Charlie Ward (sore knee) and lost Allan Houston
to fouls late in the third quarter.
Ward will undergo surgery Monday to remove loose cartilage from
his right knee. He is likely to miss 6-8 weeks.
Despite being so short-handed, the Knicks played a spirited
fourth quarter and took a 75-73 lead on Sprewell's jumper with 2:53
left. Carter drove baseline for a bank shot 23 seconds later, then
gave the Raptors the lead for good by spinning free of Sprewell and
sinking a difficult jumper for a 77-75 lead with 1:17 left.
"That was a little lucky," Carter said. "I was under control,
but when I let it go, I didn't think it was going in."
Glen Rice, who shot only 3-for-12, missed three shots the rest
of the way and Sprewell also missed one as the Knicks lost their
second straight and dropped to 3-3 at home.
Oakley, the ex-Knick who came into the game shooting only 27
percent from the field, was consistently off-target until hitting a
wide-open jumper early in the third. That seemed to give him his
confidence back, and he turned into a marksman over the next few
minutes.
First, Oakley hit a 29-footer as the shot clock was expiring for
a 52-46 lead. He followed that with a 20-footer, then another
3-pointer.
"I went to the clinic and got a checkup. I'm still walking,"
Oakley said.
Williamson blew past Rice for a reverse layup that made it 59-48
with 2:09 left in the third, and Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy put
Houston back into the game moments later despite Houston's five
fouls. The move backfired less than 30 seconds later when Houston
was called for a foul on Jackson.
Van Gundy was irate at the call and drew a technical foul, which
Carter converted for a 60-50 lead.
"We did not lose because of the officiating," Van Gundy said.
"We're not very good right now. We're struggling."
It was 61-52 entering the fourth, but Sprewell had five points
in a 9-0 run that tied it at 65 with 7:35 left. There were two ties
and seven lead changes the rest of the way.
Game
notes
Luc Longley, who hadn't played since injuring his knee
during the Olympics, was activated from the injured list by the
Knicks. To make room on the active roster, backup center Felton
Spencer was placed on the IL with a sprained right knee. Longley
did not play. ... Oakley said the Patrick Ewing deal was like
trading a mobile home for a Yugo. ... Jackson, who had missed only
one foul shot all season in 22 attempts, clanged a technical free
throw in the second quarter and missed another foul shot in the
fourth. Sprewell also missed a technical. ... Carter said there's a
50-50 chance he'll defend his slam dunk title at All-Star weekend.
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NBA Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
Knicks' Ward to have surgery, out 6-8 weeks
RECAPS
Toronto 79
New York 75
Charlotte 109
Cleveland 98
Houston 91
Miami 80
Orlando 114
Atlanta 92
Dallas 108
Denver 84
Washington 107
Milwaukee 100
San Antonio 96
Philadelphia 76
Portland 86
New Jersey 84
Golden State 114
Minnesota 93
Phoenix 95
LA Clippers 89
Sacramento 125
Seattle 101
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