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Tuesday, Feb. 27 7:00pm ET
Peterson hits seven 3's, scores career-high 29

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

TORONTO (AP) -- With Cleveland's defense focused on Vince Carter, Morris Peterson had a career night.

Vince Carter
Vince Carter flushes two of his game-high 32 points for the Raptors.

Peterson made seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 29 points and Carter scored 32 points, leading the Toronto Raptors over the Cavaliers 101-89 Tuesday night.

"When you've got Vince Carter on the other wing sometimes you've got to triple-team him," Peterson said. "I got it going, and I felt great. The basket felt like a big bucket."

Peterson made seven straight 3-pointers during the second and third quarters. His dunk gave Toronto, which has won eight straight over the Cavaliers, a 16-point lead early in the fourth.

"I was covering Vince Carter on the drive and Mo Peterson kept hitting from the corner," Cleveland's Andre Miller said. "Our goal was to get the ball of Vince's hands. Mo got into a rhythm. We didn't expect Mo to score almost 30 points."

Cleveland closed within five with 2:32 remaining on Miller's 3-point play and two free throws, but Peterson assisted on a Carter layup, and Alvin Williams' 3-pointer gave Toronto a 10-point lead with 1:19 left.

Miller and Lamond Murray each had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who haven't won back-to-back games in over a month.

"To have someone else shoot 29 points behind Vince, it's going to be a tough to beat them," Cleveland coach Randy Wittman said.

Carter scored 33 points in Toronto's 120-105 rout of Cleveland on Feb. 13, and 32 in Toronto's 115-88 win on Nov. 10.

"We talked coming into this game about having to make Vince take tough shots. Morris Peterson played excellent," Wittman said.

Peterson, who made seven of his 10 3-point attempts overall, scored 14 straight points to start the third as the Raptors took a 10-point lead.

Carter had 18 points, and Peterson made two 3-pointers just before the end of the half as the Raptors led 51-45.

"This is big for Mo's confidence and for the team," Carter said. "If he continues to play with confidence he'll be yet another weapon. It makes it harder for the other team to defend us."

Game notes
Toronto's Chris Childs, acquired from New York last week, had seven turnovers, including four in the first three minutes of the second quarter. ... Cleveland's Matt Harpring returned to the lineup after missing 25 games due to surgery on his left ankle. Harpring had two points in six minutes. ... Peterson's previous career was 22 on Jan. 7 when he made his first NBA start. ... The Cavaliers haven't won consecutive games since beating Portland on Jan. 22 and Chicago two days later. ... Toronto's Charles Oakley received a technical for throwing the ball in the direction of official Bill Kennedy at the end of the half. ... The Cavaliers have dropped 26 of their last 33 games. ... Cleveland's last win against the Raptors came on April 16, 1999.

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NBA Scoreboard

Cleveland Clubhouse

Toronto Clubhouse


RECAPS
Toronto 101
Cleveland 89

Miami 103
Washington 95

New York 101
Seattle 92

Portland 95
San Antonio 87

Sacramento 106
LA Clippers 93

Dallas 116
Vancouver 112


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