|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Monday, Mar. 6 10:30pm ET
Raptors win fourth straight on road | |||||
|
| ||||||
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Boring old outside shots were just as fun as high-flying acrobatics for Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors. Carter scored 35 points and Doug Christie added 26 as the Toronto Raptors hit a season-high 13 3-pointers to easily beat Portland 109-90 on Monday night.
"We've grown, and we're starting to understand what it takes to win games," said Carter, whose team won their sixth straight to tie the franchise record set last season. "Everybody always puts it on me," Carter added. "If I don't play well, it's 'Oh, you didn't do this, you didn't score 40 points.' So what? It's what the team does, and we got it from everyone tonight." The Raptors, who won their team-record fourth straight on the road, moved a half-game ahead of Philadelphia for the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference. Carter and Christie combined for seven of the team's nine 3-pointers in the second half, the most ever given up in a half by the Blazers. Toronto outscored Portland 62-38 after trailing by five at halftime. Asked how to stop a team that gets that hot from the outside, the Blazers' Brian Grant said: "You don't. You get beat. And we got beat." Rasheed Wallace scored a season-high 27 and Arvydas Sabonis had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Blazers, who have lost two of their last three home games after winning 16 straight. The 19-point margin was the largest against the Blazers this season, surpassing the Lakers' 13-point victory Nov. 6 in the third game of the season. "We got a good old-fashioned whuppin'," Detlef Schrempf said. "Everything bounced their way, and we couldn't make shots." Carter, who began the night as the NBA's fourth-leading scorer at 25.5 points per game, is averaging 30.6 points over his last 15 games. The Blazers weathered a 15-0 run in the second quarter, but folded after Toronto reeled off 13 straight points in the third. A 21-foot baseline jumper by Antonio Davis put the Raptors ahead 62-54, and Portland couldn't get closer than four after that. Blazers' point guard Damon Stoudamire missed his second straight game after injuring his left knee in last week's home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. With a bigger, less quick lineup, the Blazers didn't run the open court well and turned the ball over 17 times. "When they used their bigger lineup, we tried to get around it, and they used their smaller lineup, we tried to post them up," Christie said. "We're seeing that night in and night out, and we're starting to learn." The Blazers had a nine-point lead in the second quarter, but it quickly vanished when the second unit came in. After a jumper by Stacey Augmon, the Raptors went on their 15-0 run, highlighted by one of Carter's poster-worthy dunks on a high lob from Muggsy Bogues. A reverse layup by Kevin Willis gave Toronto a 40-34 lead. Portland responded, and Wallace one-upped Carter with a powerful one-handed slam over Antonio Davis to put the Blazers ahead 45-44. Greg Anthony converted a three-point play after a goaltending violation on Carter to give Portland a 52-47 halftime lead. After Toronto's 13-0 run, the Blazers pulled to 65-61 on a turnaround shot off the glass by Wallace with 5:26 left in the third. But Charles Oakley hit a 23-foot jumper, and Carter tipped home his own miss to make it 71-63. Dell Curry's 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds left in the period made it an 81-70 lead. It was Carter's first game in Portland. The teams didn't play each other last season, his rookie year. "We just need to win games wherever we play," Carter said. "We wanted to protect home and win as many games as we could at home, then we wanted to worry about our road record. We've done that."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Toronto Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse RECAPS Orlando 87 Washington 85
Toronto 109
  | |||||
