What’s Good for Carter Is Very Bad for the Celtics

Vince Carter, showing no ill effects from a sore left knee, scored 29 points as the Raptors ended the Boston Celtics’ six-game winning streak with a 110-98 victory Monday at Toronto.

“The knee felt better than ever today,” Carter said. “. . .I don’t know what it’s from, what happened or what I did. I just felt good today.”

Carter has sat out seven games because of the knee injury and has played sparingly in trying to avoid aggravating it. He sat out the fourth quarter Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We had a difficult time trapping Vince Carter,” Boston Coach Jim O’Brien said. “He has the quickest first step I’ve ever seen.”

The Celtics, who are battling Indiana and Cleveland for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, lacked scoring punch outside of Paul Pierce’s 39 points.

Toronto led for most of the game, but Pierce kept the Celtics in it with his midrange jumper, scoring 17 of Boston’s 23 points in the third to keep the deficit to 84-70.

But Charles Oakley, who scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds, had a hot hand with his outside shooting in the fourth quarter to help the Raptors open a 21-point lead.

“It’s not about a one-on-one matchup with Vince,” said Pierce, scoreless in the fourth quarter. “We lost this one and we just have to put it behind us.”

Philadelphia 99, Denver 80--Allen Iverson scored 37 points at Philadelphia to help the 76ers end a two-game losing streak.

Philadelphia built a 31-17 lead and never looked back.

Antonio McDyess scored 28 points and George McCloud had 13 for Denver.

Tipoff was delayed one hour by bad weather. The Nuggets’ team bus arrived late at the arena and several 76ers had trouble making it on time.

Houston 100, New York 86--Steve Francis and Hakeem Olajuwon ignited a third-quarter comeback that helped the Rockets overcome a 14-point deficit against the Knicks at Houston.

Francis, who had 29 points and 10 rebounds, scored 14 in the pivotal third quarter in which the Rockets had a 16-4 run at the outset. Olajuwon matched his season high with 18 points and had nine rebounds. He had 10 points in the third period.

Allan Houston scored 31 points for the Knicks.

Dallas 91, Atlanta 81--Dirk Nowitzki and Howard Eisley, who took the place of injured guard Steve Nash, each scored 22 points to help the Mavericks overcome a 19-point deficit at Atlanta.

The Mavericks won their third game in a row and earned their seventh victory in their last nine games.

Jason Terry led Atlanta with 21 points.

San Antonio 109, Golden State 85--Tim Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds at San Antonio to lead the Spurs to their seventh consecutive victory.

Antawn Jamison scored 26 of his 29 points in the first half for the Warriors.

Seattle 95, Vancouver 82--Vin Baker scored nine of his 17 points in the final quarter to lead the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Seattle won without Gary Payton, sidelined for a second consecutive game because of a strained abdominal muscle, and Ruben Patterson, who served the third and final game of a suspension.

Mike Bibby scored 23 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 21 for the Grizzlies.