Raptors Beat The Heat

Doug Christie took a page out of the Miami Heat's book and played a little long ball.

The Toronto guard made six 3-pointers while scoring 28 points as Raptors beat the Heat 97-86 Thursday night, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Miami.

Miami, which had 10 3-pointers in its home opener against Detroit, managed only four Thursday compared with Toronto's 10.

"We went to Vince and he found the open man very well," Christie said. "Mine were just open shots. He got hot and stepped up also."

Alonzo Mourning was kept in check for most of the night by Davis, Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis. The Heat's 6-foot-10 center still managed 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

"Alonzo will score regardless if we play him straight up," Davis said. "But that allowed our guys on the perimeter to stop those guys from shooting threes."

P.J. Brown had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Jamal Mashburn added 17 points and six assists. Tim Hardaway had only 12 points.

The Raptors, who had an embarrasing loss to Boston on Tuesday, last beat the Heat on March 30, 1997.

"We caught a team that lost their home openr and we caught Doug Christie and Vince Carter on their best games," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We couldn't get to their shooters."

The Raptors, who outscored Miami 31-17 in the fourth quarter, put together a 7-0 run to go up 78-75.

Carter set up Dell Curry's 3-pointer 3:25 into the fourth to bring the Raptors within one. Carter put Toronto in front 76-75 on a long jumper and then had a fingertip layup as the Raptors went ahead for good. Christie added three 3-pointers late in the game to clinch the Raptors' first win of the season.

The Raptors took a 47-40 lead at the half. Alvin Williams made a nice fake on Hardaway for a layup, then hit an off-balance 26-footer near the buzzer. The Heat came back with a 11-0 run as the fourth quarter began, courtesy of two jumpers by Clarence Weatherspoon.

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