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Monday, Feb. 5 7:00pm ET
Raptors end Celtics' six-game winning streak

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

TORONTO (AP) -- Vince Carter hasn't felt better.

Carter, showing no ill effects from a sore left knee, scored 29 points as the Toronto Raptors snapped the Boston Celtics' six-game winning streak with a 110-98 win Monday night.

Antonio Davis
Toronto's Antonio Davis grabs a first-half rebound over Boston's Mark Blount.
"The knee felt better than ever today," said Carter, who didn't hesitate on his drives and shot 10-for-17 from the field. "I thought I would take advantage of it as long as it was going to get me through the game. I was happy. I don't know what it's from, what happened or what I did. I just felt good today."

Carter has missed seven games because of the knee injury and has been tentative in case it gets aggravated further. On Saturday against Minnesota he sat out the fourth quarter.

"We had a difficult time trapping Vince Carter," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said. "He has the quickest first step I've ever seen. We lost to a better basketball team."

When Carter ran into foul trouble in the third quarter he rode a stationary bike in a back room to keep the knee loose.

"You got to do what you got to do. I just tried to see how I was," Carter said. "It's boring back there, watching the screen and seeing what's going on."

Charles Oakley had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Morris Peterson added 15 points as Toronto ended a two-game skid.

Alvin Williams scored 12 points while Antonio Davis added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who have won five of the last six against the Celtics.

Paul Pierce had 39 points for Boston, but only three in the fourth quarter. Antoine Walker scored 17 points and Walter McCarty added 11.

"They had our number shooting tonight," Walker said. "They did a great job of hitting open shots and scoring in transition."

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.

"It's not about a one-on-one matchup with Vince," Pierce said. "We lost this one and we just have to put it behind us."

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

"We were able to get a handle on one of them and that was key," said Davis of the Pierce-Walker scoring threat. "We haven't been able to sustain a high level for 48 minutes and we're starting to do that."

Oakley had a hot hand with his outside shooting in the fourth as the Raptors opened a 21-point lead. Walker hit a pair of three-pointers to make it 98-86 with 5:45 left, but Williams picked off a bad pass from Chris Carr for a breakaway layup to make it 104-86.

Carter then hit a 3-pointer with 2:25 left to put Boston behind 107-86.

"We're getting to that point where we're starting to feel good out there," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said.

The Raptors opened an early lead, 52-39, after going on a 13-1 run midway through the second quarter, highlighted by a nice alley-oop pass from Del Curry to Keon Clark. Oakley ended the half on a driving layup to give Toronto a 56-47 lead.

"Early in the season Vince was carrying the load," Williams said. "Now we're playing better and feeling more confident."

Game notes
Boston's winning streak was its longest since 1994-95. .... Raptor Mamadou N'diaye made his NBA debut late in the fourth quarter. ... Toronto's last game before the All-Star break is Thursday against Denver, which will mark the return of recently traded Kevin Willis. ... Boston's Randy Brown (hyperextended left knee) did not play. ... Blue Jays slugger Carlos Delgado and Gervase Peterson of the original "Survivor" were courtside. ... Toronto won the season series 3-1.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Boston Clubhouse

Toronto Clubhouse


Slam dunk participants selected; Carter out


RECAPS
Philadelphia 99
Denver 80

Toronto 110
Boston 98

Dallas 91
Atlanta 81

Houston 100
New York 86

San Antonio 109
Golden State 85

Seattle 95
Vancouver 82

LA Clippers 102
Chicago 82

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Antoine Walker Official Site

Vince Carter Official Site

Mark Jackson Official Site

Lenny Wilkens Official Site


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