Carter Takes Charge and Raptors Win

Vince Carter is proving the Toronto Raptors are for real.

Carter scored a career-high 39 points as the Raptors, who lead the Central Division, beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, 98-92, on Sunday at Toronto.

“We let Vince take shots that we wanted him to take and he just stuffed it down our throats,” San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said.

Making an assortment of outside jump shots, Carter was 15 of 25 from the field. Carter, last season’s rookie of the year, also had seven rebounds, and made all eight of his free throws.

“We have a goal that we are trying to reach and these our the kind of games we need,” said Carter, who has guaranteed a playoff spot for the Raptors. “I had to step it up for the team, both defensively and offensively.”

After Dee Brown got a steal with just under two minutes remaining, he passed to Carter, who made a mid-range jump shot in traffic. “The basket felt bigger than usual,” Carter said.

Avery Johnson, who had 20 points, responded with a jumper to pull San Antonio within one, but Tracy McGrady scored with 44.9 seconds left to give the Raptors a 92-89 lead.

Tim Duncan, double-teamed down the stretch, missed an 18-footer with 30 seconds left. The Spurs then fouled Doug Christie, who made two free throws.

Terry Porter made a desperation three-point shot to bring the Spurs within two. But Carter made two free throws and Christie made two more to give the Raptors their first victory at home over the Spurs.

Denver 80, New York 78--Bryant Stith blocked Latrell Sprewell’s jump shot with six seconds left and the Nuggets, after trailing for almost the entire night, won their first road game of the season.

Allan Houston of the Knicks missed a foul shot that would have tied the game with 12 seconds left. He then had a chance to win it but missed a 22-foot shot at the buzzer.

It was a somewhat shocking victory for the Nuggets, given their problems on the road this season (0-5). Denver, which trailed by as many as 16, came back to win after being behind by at least 10 points for the fourth time.

Nick Van Exel scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter to keep Denver in the game and Antonio McDyess added 16 on a night when the Nuggets were without their leading scorer, Ron Mercer.

Charlotte 103, Seattle 81--The Hornets handed the SuperSonics their second consecutive lopsided home-court loss. The Lakers routed them, 101-77, in their last home game.

Derrick Coleman scored 26 points and Eddie Robinson had a season-high 18 points off the bench for the Hornets, who improved to 3-6 on the road this season.

Gary Payton led Seattle with 17 points, but the Hornets double-teamed him aggressively and limited him to four-of-14 shooting from the field.

Milwaukee 103, Dallas 97--Sam Cassell dominated the game with 16 points and a career-high 18 assists as the Bucks held off the Mavericks.

“When Sam’s on, we just feed off him,” said Ray Allen, who had 20 points. “He had it going tonight, and we just got open for him.”

Michael Finley was almost as impressive for the Mavericks. He had 29 points, including 12 during a last-minute rally that cut Milwaukee’s 21-point fourth-quarter lead to 97-91 with 40 seconds to play.

Portland 92, Phoenix 90--Rasheed Wallace made a 15-foot jump shot with 1.3 seconds left, lifting the Trail Blazers at Phoenix.

Tom Gugliotta tied the score at 90-90 on a layup with 16 seconds left, giving the Trail Blazers one last shot.

After a timeout, Detlef Schrempf got the in-bounds pass to Scottie Pippen, who passed to Wallace on the left side.