Vince Carter Scores 24 as Magic Maul Raptors 104-96
Carter scored 24 points, Dwight
Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds and the Orlando Magic won their
fifth straight game, 104-96 over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Carter finished 9-for-24 from the field after going 2-for-11 in the first half.
“The first half was a rough one,” Carter said, adding that he was “a little overly aggressive.”
That changed after Carter switched his shoes.
“My shoes in the first half were all
blue,” Carter said. “I changed back to the black ones, the old faithful
that I wore in Boston.”
His feet back in the shoes that he
wore to score 26 points in Friday’s road win over the Celtics, Carter
came out in the third and scored 12 points.
So, what will Carter do with the blue shoes?
“Those are done,” he said, laughing. “I gave them away.”
As usual, Toronto fans booed Carter every time he touched the ball.
“I think half the people don’t have
any idea why they’re booing him, it’s just become tradition to boo
him,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. “That’s OK. He thinks it’s
funny, we think its funny. It’s really irrelevant.”
J.J. Redick added 19 points, Jason Williams had 16 and Rashard Lewis added 11 for the Magic, who have won eight of 10.
Chris Bosh scored 22 points, Jose
Calderon had 16 and Hedo Turkoglu scored 12 for Toronto, which has lost
four of five. The Raptors are 4-2 at home this season, with both
defeats coming against the Magic.
“Their defense is one of the best, that’s why they are 11-3,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said.
Orlando used 17 3-pointers to beat
Toronto 125-116 on Nov. 1 despite playing without Carter (left ankle),
Lewis (suspension) and Mickael Pietrus (flulike symptoms). All three
were healthy for this one, but it was lesser-known players who extended
the lead in the final quarter.
With Howard and Carter already on
the bench, things looked good for Toronto when Lewis also sat down
after picking up his fifth foul at 10:27 of the fourth. Five seconds
later, Turkoglu tied it at 80 with a pair of free throws.
But with their three leading scorers
all sitting, the Magic didn’t fold. Redick and Williams hit
back-to-back 3-pointers, Redick made a jumper and Ryan Anderson hit two
free throws to give Orlando a 90-80 lead with 7:19 left.
“That’s not exactly the lineup that
everybody writes about when they’re writing about the Orlando Magic,”
Van Gundy said. “That was on the road against a good team and those
guys did a great job extending the lead. They took the lead to double
figures. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Redick said the Magic learned not to
panic in such situations when they were forced to play without Lewis
and Carter earlier this season.
“It wasn’t like we looked around and
said ‘Holy crap, we don’t have an All-Star on the floor,'” Redick said.
“We just went out and played with a group that has been successful
before.”
Williams added another 3 before
Carter and Howard returned with 6:05 remaining, but Toronto wasn’t
done. Trailing by 13 after two Howard free throws, Jarrett Jack made a
3 from the corner before Amir Johnson hit a layup, then put back
Turkoglu’s miss to make it 97-91 with 2:32 left.
Carter made sure the Raptors didn’t
get any closer, making two free throws and later hitting a jumper to
keep Orlando’s lead secure.
Johnson scored a season-high 14
points while Andrea Bargnani fouled out with 11 points and nine
rebounds. Jack matched a career-high with 11 assists and his eight
rebounds were a season-high.
Howard had yet to score when he was
forced to the bench after picking up his second foul at 5:59 of the
first. He returned for the second and had eight points in the quarter
as the Magic used an 18-5 run to erase a 10-point deficit. Carter
didn’t take a shot in the quarter but Ryan Anderson’s 3-pointer from
the corner with 1.6 seconds left gave Orlando a 50-49 lead.
Howard headed back to the bench
after picking up his fourth foul at 2:48 of the third, and Johnson
capped a 9-2 run with a three-point play to put the Raptors on top.
Carter made a jumper with 1.4 seconds left to tie it at 76 heading into
the fourth.
Notes
Williams made his third
straight start in place of point guard Jameer Nelson, who underwent
left knee surgery last week and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
… Van Gundy received a technical for arguing in the first and Howard
got one for arguing in the third. … Toronto’s Antoine Wright (left
ankle) sat for the fourth time in five games. … Raptors G Marco
Belinelli (left groin) did not dress after injuring himself in Friday’s
victory over Miami.