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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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SHOT CHART
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GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) – Vince Carter wore a smile of vindication, pride
and satisfaction. Latrell Sprewell spoke angrily, like a man who
had been abandoned by his teammates.
|  | | Vince Carter scored 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting and applied some defense. |
The Toronto Raptors won their first playoff series and sent the
New York Knicks to first-round elimination for the first time in a
decade with a 93-89 victory Friday night.
"The monkey is off our back. We're moving on to bigger and
better things," Carter said. "We saw this as a good opportunity
to make a name for this franchise."
Indeed they did, and a big reason why was because of the way
Carter validated himself as a superstar. Playing with poise all
night and scoring 27 points, Carter helped the Raptors maintain
their fragile composure down the stretch to hold off New York's
comeback from a 12-point deficit.
"We did a great job of relaxing and playing like we were the
team that had been there before -- which we hadn't," Carter said.
"As a team, and personally, we grew together and brought each
other along together."
Carter and the Raptors took control in the third quarter and
held off the undersized, foul-plagued, mistake-prone Knicks in the
fifth and deciding game of their first-round series to send New
York to its earliest playoff exit since 1991.
Toronto moves on to a second-round series against Philadelphia
beginning Sunday, while the Knicks headed off to the longest summer
any of them have had in a long time.
Carter wasn't a one-man show, though.
As he had insisted throughout the series, basketball is a team
game. And on this night, in the most important game in Raptors
history, they were more of a team than the Knicks.
Alvin Williams added 18 points, Antonio Davis had 14, Charles
Oakley 12 and Chris Childs 10. Most importantly, the Raptors didn't
get too rattled -- although they came close -- when the Knicks pulled
within two points on four separate occasions and within one point
once in the final quarter.
Sprewell scored 29 points for the Knicks, who missed every shot
they needed in the final two minutes.
"There were times when I felt I had to carry the load for our
team," a visibly upset Sprewell said. "It was on my shoulders. I
left it all out there on the floor and I'm exhausted right now. I
don't know if everybody left it all out on the floor."
Allan Houston added 16 points and Marcus Camby shot 5-for-7 and
had 11 points and eight rebounds in 35 minutes before fouling out
with 6:15 left. Glen Rice shot 2-for-10, missing all four of his
fourth-quarter shots.
The key statistic was second-chance points, with the Raptors
outscoring New York 17-7 in that category as they kept the Knicks
off the offensive glass all night.
"Yeah, they really outworked us," Houston said. "Their
strength was their rebounding and they simply overpowered us."
The game turned Toronto's way in the third quarter after the
Knicks pulled to 56-53 but then went four minutes without a basket.
Oakley put back an offensive rebound, Carter scored four straight
points and Davis drew Camby's fourth foul and made both free throws
for a 64-57 lead.
Thomas picked up his fourth foul with five minutes left in the
third, and Davis hit both foul shots and then scored over Othella
Harrington. A jumper by Childs made it 70-57 with 2:48 left in the
third, and Houston picked up his fifth foul 13 seconds later.
A foul shot by Jerome Williams gave Toronto a 71-59 lead early
in the fourth, but the Raptors started feeling the pressure and
getting sloppy with the ball and the Knicks finally started
grabbing some offensive rebounds.
Thomas scored twice on putbacks in an 8-0 run that pulled the
Knicks to 73-71, but Carter hit a 3-pointer with 6:53 left. A 3 by
Charlie Ward again made it a two-point game, but Alvin Williams
scored Toronto's next five points, Childs hit a 17-footer and Davis
scored on a turnaround from the baseline to make it 85-80 with 2:52
left.
A dunk by Sprewell and a bank shot by Thomas made it 81-80, but
Childs answered with a jumper, Glen Rice missed a 3 and Sprewell
missed a putback. Sprewell made it a two-point game on a
three-point play with 2:28 left, but Toronto scored the next six
points as the Knicks were missing two jumpers and committing a
turnover.
Alvin Williams made two free throws with 32 seconds left, making
it 91-83 and sending the fans heading toward the exits.
Just like in Game 4, the Knicks shot great from the field in the
first half (56 percent) yet still managed to fall behind. The
Raptors held a 49-43 halftime lead behind 12 second-chance points
and a 14-2 run that began with a 3-pointer by Carter and turned a
29-27 deficit into a 41-31 lead.
The Knicks grabbed only one offensive rebound in the first half
as Harrington, Thomas and Houston each picked up three fouls. Davis
picked up two fouls in the first 4:15 of the game but never got
whistled for a third.
The Knicks were called for 27 fouls; Toronto for 19.
Game notes
This was the Knicks' first must-win playoff game at Madison
Square Garden since 1995, when Patrick Ewing missed a game-tying
finger roll at the buzzer against Indiana in the Eastern Conference
semifinals. "I remember. He went right past me," said Toronto's
Antonio Davis, who played for Indiana in that game. ... Oakley gave
Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy a playful shove in the second quarter.
Van Gundy stumbled backward but seemed to take it with good humor.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
Raptors-Knicks Series Page
RECAPS
Toronto 93
New York 89
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Vince Carter says Toronto was not concerned about the Knicks making a run (Courtesy: TNT Sports).
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Antonio Davis says patience is key in the playoffs (Courtesy: TNT Sports).
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Lenny Wilkens says his team has shown that it has matured.
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Latrell Sprewell is disappointed that the Knicks were outworked by the Raptors in Game 5.
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ESPN's David Aldridge catches up with Alvin Williams after the Raptors win Game 5 over the Knicks.
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