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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hype is one thing, legitimacy is another. Vince Carter wants to move from that first plateau to the next.
|  | | Vince Carter was one rebound and one assist shy of his first career triple-double. |
Carter put on another performance Wednesday night worthy of his ever-increasing accolades, taking over the game by scoring 15 of his 33 points in the third quarter to lead the Toronto Raptors past the New York Knicks 99-88.
"The All-Star game is over. The Letterman Show is behind me.
Guys wondered if I'd remain focused," said Carter, who also had
nine rebounds and nine assists to barely miss his first NBA
triple-double. "I still have to show up on the floor. That's the proving I have to do no matter how much media I get. I still have to give 110 percent."
The hype surrounding Carter shows no signs of slowing. He
appeared in mailboxes all across America on Wednesday on the cover
of Sports Illustrated, and on Sunday he'll make his first
appearance with the Raptors in a nationally televised game when
Toronto plays Phoenix on NBC.
Carter also gave plenty of ammo to the folks producing the
highlight reels, throwing down two incredible dunks and making
several closely contested jumpers as part of his evening.
To close matters, he scored Toronto's final seven points and gave hugs to rap stars Ja Rule and Irv Gotti, who sat courtside across from Toronto's bench.
"Once I started hitting, the rest of the team looked for me,"
Carter said. "Four quarters of good basketball was refreshing. We
haven't done that in a while."
Doug Christie added 22 points and Tracy McGrady had 16 for the
Raptors, who snapped a three-game losing streak, ended New York's
five-game home winning streak and knocked the Knicks out of first
place in the Atlantic Division.
Patrick Ewing scored 24 points to move past Adrian Dantley into 15th place on the career scoring list. Just two days earlier, Ewing
passed Elgin Baylor to move into 16th place. Ewing now has 23,181
career points, with Robert Parish the next player ahead of him with
23,334.
The Raptors used runs of 20-3 in the first half and 19-5 in the
second to make the difference. The victory allowed Toronto to avoid
what would have been its first four-game losing streak of the
season.
The 19-5 run came to close the third quarter as Carter started
taking over the game. Smirking and scowling at whoever the Knicks
tried to guard him with, usually Latrell Sprewell or Larry Johnson,
Carter did his damage with a array of pull-up jumpers and drives to
the basket.
He capped a personal 5-0 run late in the fourth by driving
around Allan Houston at the 3-point line and slamming in a dunk for
a 97-86 lead with 2:11 left.
"Some of the shots he made were very tough," Ewing said. "He
was elevating over guys and shooting and they were going in. He is
probably similar (to Michael Jordan). He is a great player, but I'm
not sure he is at the level of Michael."
New York jumped out to an early nine-point lead, 15-6, then
allowed Toronto to go on a 20-3 run fueled by 12 points from
Christie for a 26-22 lead after the first quarter.
Charles Oakley had a 3-pointer and an alley-oop pass to McGrady
to give Toronto a 31-24 lead, and Carter followed with a
crowd-pleasing, high-rising slam to make it 33-26. Chris Childs hit
a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a quarter-ending 21-9 run that gave
the Knicks a 47-42 halftime lead.
A turnaround jumper by Ewing gave the Knicks a 62-52 lead before
Carter began his third-quarter outburst that led Toronto to a 71-67
lead entering the fourth.
The Knicks got no closer than three points in the final 12
minutes.
Game notes
Toronto placed C Michael Stewart on the injured list and
activated G Dee Brown sooner than expected, prompting speculation that Brown would be involved in a deal before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline. Brown, a 3-point shooting specialist, went on the injured
list Jan. 14 following knee surgery. He did not play. ... Oakley
made a 3-pointer, his seventh of the season. His previous
career-high for an entire season was four in 1994-95. ... Knicks
general manager Scott Layden said he did not anticipate making a
trade before the deadline. ... Carter has never had a triple-double
in the NBA. ... Ewing landed awkwardly on his knee in the first
half but continued to play.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 94
LA Clippers 78
LA Lakers 116
Cleveland 98
Indiana 118
Detroit 111
Miami 99
New Jersey 85
Toronto 99
New York 88
Golden State 91
Milwaukee 86
Atlanta 100
Sacramento 94
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