Carter Struggles in Playoff Debut

Feeling playoff pressure for the first time, a frustrated Vince Carter had a performance he’d rather forget.

“I was overexcited. I wasn’t my normal self,” Carter said after missing 17 shots--including his first dozen--as the Toronto Raptors lost the first postseason game in franchise history, 92-88, to the New York Knicks Sunday.

Carter started poorly, got down on himself and played one of his worst games of the season, scoring 16 points but shooting only three for 20 from the field.

He also went nine for 10 at the free-throw line, with the one miss a huge one after he was flagrantly fouled with 40 seconds left and the Raptors trailing by three. Toronto didn’t score again until 2.5 seconds remained, and by then it was too late.

“My mechanics were not what they’d be in a regular season game. That happens,”’ Carter said. “I just couldn’t hit a shot.”

The Knicks, after blowing an early 19-point lead, got a big three-point basket from Larry Johnson in the final minute and wrapped up the victory at the foul line to take Game 1 of the best-of-five series. Game 2 is Wednesday.

Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell each scored 21 points for New York.

The game’s biggest shot was Johnson’s three-pointer with 43 seconds left that put New York ahead to stay. Then came the moment when Carter, with a chance to redeem himself for a forgettable afternoon, failed again.

Sprewell flagrantly fouled Carter on a drive to the basket, bringing him down by the shoulders.

“I think they were testing me to see how I’d react to it,” Carter said.

The Raptors got two foul shots and the ball, but Carter missed the first before making the second, then missed a finger roll.

The ball went out of bounds off a Knick player and Toronto had another chance to tie. But Tracy McGrady missed from the corner, Doug Christie missed a follow shot and New York rebounded.

“When you have great players, and we’ve seen it on our team, sometimes things don’t go well for you,” Knick Coach Jeff Van Gundy said of Carter. “We know that he is great and he’s going to come back and play hard Wednesday.”

Said Carter: “I have a game under my belt, and we have time to settle down and get back to basics. There’s things I know now that I wish I knew before the game, but I’ll be ready for Game 2.”

McGrady had 25 points to lead the Raptors, who shot only 37%.

The Knicks led the entire way until Ewing lost the ball to Charles Oakley in the low post with a chance to put New York ahead by five. Toronto pushed the ball upcourt and found Carter in the corner for a three-point basket that produced an 81-81 tie with 2:23 left.

There were two more ties before the Raptors ran to double-team Ewing and the Knicks swung the ball to Johnson for a wide open three-point basket that made it 88-85 with 43 seconds left. Johnson flashed his “Big L” symbol, pointing at his elbow as he did in last year’s playoffs whenever he made a big shot from long range.

Next came the flagrant foul, and Carter couldn’t pick himself up.