Raptors’ Victory Comes With a Price: Carter Hurt

When Toronto Raptor star Vince Carter went down with an injury, his teammates stepped up.

Carter, the NBA’s leading scorer, strained his left thigh in the first quarter and did not return, but Mark Jackson registered a triple-double and six Raptors scored in double figures in a 101-89 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at Toronto.

Carter, averaging 29.8 points, felt a twinge on a fadeaway jumper 3:09 into the game. He was helped off the court and did not return. Carter will be reevaluated today and was listed as day-to-day.

“I was stepping back to shoot and as I planted, the knee gave out,” Carter said. “I knew something wasn’t right. It’s the top of my knee.”

Toronto beat Chicago for the eighth consecutive time.

“I wanted to go back and give it a shot and let the pain tell me, but our guys were playing well out there,” Carter said. “It was weird [to be on the bench], but this is something I’m continuing to do and that’s to be a leader. Even if that means from the sidelines on what I see instead of on the court.”

Carter, who was scoreless, hasn’t missed a game during his three-year career and holds the franchise record of appearing in 145 consecutive games.

Jackson had 11 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for his 17th career triple-double. Rookie Morris Peterson had a season-high 18 points.

Utah 94, Detroit 79--Karl Malone scored 24 points, 12 of them in the fourth quarter, as the Jazz beat the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Utah outscored Detroit, 31-12, in the fourth quarter and won its third game in a row.

The game was the 1,271st of Utah guard John Stockton’s career. Stockton broke John Havlicek’s league record for most games with one team. Stockton scored one point and had 15 assists in 31 minutes for the Jazz.

Vancouver 98, Boston 87--Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 27 points and 21 rebounds, and Mike Bibby scored 13 points and added 12 assists at Boston as the Grizzlies snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Around the League

The Miami Heat, looking for help off the bench, acquired forward Cedric Ceballos, 31, from the Detroit Pistons for a conditional second-round draft choice. . . . NBC Sports is juggling its NBA lineup, with Ahmad Rashad moving from reporter to studio host for the season, replacing Hannah Storm, according to the Associated Press. The change comes because Storm is due to give birth about a month after NBC’s NBA coverage starts Dec. 25, industry sources said. Marv Albert returns as the lead play-by-play announcer, replacing Bob Costas. Kevin Johnson, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, replaces new Indiana Pacer Coach Isiah Thomas as a studio analyst on the pregame show.