Carter Lifts Raptors, Again

Vince Carter, roughed up by the Houston Rockets all game, was the one in charge at the end.

Carter's power dunk with 1.6 seconds remaining Sunday gave Toronto a 100-98 win over Houston, the Raptors' 11th victory in their last 12 games.

Carter, who had 37 points, took an inbounds pass from Tracy McGrady with 11 seconds left. Carter allowed about seven of those to tick away while he stood near the baseline, before blowing past Shandon Anderson for a dunk to deal Houston its seventh loss in a row.

McGrady was impressed by his teammate.

"I've never seen anything like that," McGrady said. "It seems like once he gets past you, he goes up so strong, you got to get out of the way."

Carter, knocked to the floor twice earlier in the game, scowled after the winning play.

"When it happens there's a lot of anger," Carter said of the rough treatment from the Rockets. "You just have to let your game speak for yourself."

A Carter 3-pointer, which bounced on the rim six times before going in with 30 seconds remaining, gave the Raptors a 98-96 lead.

"I've never seen a ball bounce that many times," said Houston's Steve Francis, who finished with 16 points and seven assists.

Carter's driving layup though double coverage gave Toronto a 93-92 lead with 1:55 remaining. But Hakeem Oljuwon followed with a 10-foot jumper to put Houston ahead.

After Toronto's Antonio Davis missed a 12-foot jumper, and Kevin Willis missed a tip-in, McGrady put the ball in to give Toronto a 95-94 lead with just over a minute remaining. Olajuwon's six-foot jumper put Houston ahead 96-95, but Carter followed with his improbable 3-pointer.

"Only special players get those," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.

Cuttino Mobley's finger-roll layup over Carter tied it at 98.

Francis was called for a flagrant foul when he clotheslined Carter in the second quarter.

"That was a real hard foul," McGrady said, "but it seems like every time he comes back from something like that he's a different man."

Carter was also knocked to the floor by Kelvin Cato in the fourth quarter.

"I feel like I've been through a car wreck," Carter said. "I have a little headache right now. You just have to play through it."

Kevin Willis had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto.

Carter had 18 points and McGrady 12 as the Raptors led 52-40 at the half.

Notes