Toronto Raptors vs New Jersey Nets Nov.21/08

On a night when Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani had a couple of the finest games of their careers, the sombre silence in the Raptors locker-room afterward said everything.

Vince Carter had struck once again, leading the New Jersey Nets past Toronto 129-127 in spectacular fashion Friday. The former Raptors star shrugged off the incessant booing from the Air Canada Centre crowd that pestered him all night long, pouring in 39 points, including the three-pointer that sent the game into extra time and the eventual winning dunk with 1.9 seconds left that rendered the Raptors speechless.

``I don't even know what to say, I'm so upset about the game. It's unbelievable,'' said Bargnani, calling the loss the toughest of his career. ``We were winning, we had the game under control, we made a couple of stupid mistakes.''

New Jersey's win spoiled superb games by Bosh and Bargnani. Bosh tied his career high with 42 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Bargnani had a career-high 29 points, plus 10 boards in the loss which dropped Toronto to 6-6.

Jose Calderon, playing just his second game back after missing two with a hamstring injury, had 26 points and 15 assists for Toronto (6-6), who played almost the entire second half without Jermaine O'Neal after the centre left the game with a strained left knee.

Devin Harris added 30 points for the Nets (5-6).

The Raptors led from early on in their first of four straight home appearances, and looked poised to romp to a victory in a game that set season highs for first-quarter and first-half points. But a sluggish second half cost Toronto and the Nets chipped away at what had been a 18-point early in third to eventually tie the game in the fourth.

Toronto led 85-76 heading into the final 12 minutes, but Harris single-handedly got the Nets back in the game, scoring 13 points in the first six minutes, his bucket with 6:30 left tying the game at 93-93. Then Carter took over, scoring the Nets' final 12 points in the fourth, including the long bomb as the clock ticked down to force the five-minute overtime period.

``You feel so good for Vince when you have the crowd like that, and all the times we've been up here, for him to hit the three to put it into overtime and for him to get the (game-winning) dunk,'' Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

The capacity crowd of 19,800 never sat down through a thrilling final five minutes as the Raptors traded bucket for bucket. The Raptors trailed by four points when Anthony Parker drained a three with 2.9 seconds on the clock to tie the game, and the matchup appeared headed for a second OT. But Bobby Simmons found a lurking Carter under the basket with his inbounds pass and Carter turned it into an alley-oop dunk to give the Nets the win.

``He's one of the best athletes in the game,'' Bosh said. ``Lawrence Frank drew up a fantastic play and he left it up to his best player and he capitalized.

``You live and you learn, we'd be crazy not to learn from this experience, and that's all I can say right now, that's the kind of night this has been.''

There were a few frightening moments early in the fourth quarter when O'Neal crumpled to the floor clutching his left knee after the Nets' Sean Williams tugged on his jersey from behind to pull down the Raptors centre. Williams was assessed a flagrant foul, while O'Neal limped to the locker-room with 11:37 left.

O'Neal, who missed a good chunk of his last two seasons with Indiana before the Raptors acquired him, headed to the hospital for testing following the game.

The much-maligned Carter was making his 15th regular-season appearance against his old team since he was traded to New Jersey in December, 2004. Raptors fans, true to tradition whenever the Nets are in town, booed Carter loudly when the team was introduced and whenever he had the ball. The jeers obviously didn't bother the former face of the franchise, as he easily topped his scoring average of 22.6 points.

``I know, deep down, that's just sports and that's the way it goes,'' Carter said on the booing. ``I root for my team and I'm a terrible fan, also.''

Raptors coach Sam Mitchell urged his players to put the loss behind them, as the Raptors face an even tougher test Sunday when they host the Boston Celtics.

Category:

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• Nets
• Nov.21/08

[McGradyintheHouse]

Heartbreaker for Raps.

[mariosbpe]

ur dumb how is dat fluke carter has done dat many times

[mctroll89]

the Nets are fucking DOGS

[chrisizq]

I know its the Raptors channel but by the highlights you would have thought they won by 20 points.....this is not a summary of the game. But hey, VC buried them again....I remember watching that game on the Friday after Thanksgiving in NJ.

[Callofduty4nub]

raptors suck so much

[elementskatefreak11]

i hate the toronto raptors so much!!!

[jay607mb]

vc will always kill the fans whenever he plays at ACC

[ED000111]

HA HAAAAAAA

[Jackie5362]

monuow damn, just what else is there to say?. Anyone who owns or plays with a bball need to all study how to dunk, I simply just not too long ago completed the coaching program over at (50 inch vertical [dot] com) - I wish I could've dunked when I was still in the local bball tournament! (I'm merely 5'9!)

Toronto Raptors vs New Jersey Nets Nov.21/08 iljmljg qatlcgbcqilihtp #monuow

[jasondh22]

@50GAYSPARTAN Wow, Cavs are finished!