Raptors Beat Bulls, Lose Carter

When the Toronto Raptors' Vince Carter went down with an injury, his teammates stepped up.

Carter, the NBA's leading scorer, strained his left thigh in the first quarter and did not return, but Mark Jackson registered a triple-double and six Raptors scored in double figures as Toronto beat the Chicago Bulls 101-89 on Sunday.

Carter, who was averaging 29.8 points, felt a twinge on a fadeaway jumper 3:09 into the game. He was helped off the court and did not return. Carter will be re-evaluated Monday and was listed as day-to-day.

"I was stepping back to shoot and as I planted, the knee gave out," Carter said. "I knew something wasn't right. It's the top of my knee."

Toronto beat Chicago for the eighth straight time.

"I wanted to go back and give it a shot and let the pain tell me, but our guys were playing well out there," said Carter. "It was weird (to be on the bench), but this is something I'm continuing to do and that's to be a leader. Even if that means from the sidelines on what I see instead of on the court."

"Vince is our main guy but other people have to step up and that's what they did," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. "We played smart and took advantage of certain mismatches."

Jackson had 11 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, scoring his final two points on free throws with 8.4 seconds left for his 17th career triple-double. Rookie Morris Peterson had a season-high 18 points. Antonio Davis also had 18 points, while Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis each contributed 16. Dell Curry added 11.

"We realized that we were missing our guy. We had guys that stepped up and made plays," said Jackson, who got some ribbing from injured teammate and local radio fill-in Muggsy Bogues when he missed a free throw with 22 seconds left while sitting on nine points. "Muggs made me aware that I was close (to a triple-double) and he stayed on me. When I went to the line and missed one I knew I wouldn't hear the end of it. I saw him throw his hands down like a coach in disgust. Fortunately, I had another opportunity."

Toronto won its third straight game, while Chicago, which received a season-high 31 points from Elton Brand, has lost eight in a row.

Peterson was given extra minutes and had some dazzling baskets, including a breakaway dunk early in the second quarter, giving the Raptors a 33-27 lead.

"(When Carter left) we felt like we could change matchups, but the guy that hurt us was Mo Peterson," Bulls coach Tim Floyd said. "They got a big lift from their three big guys - Oakley, Willis and Davis."

Oakley, who was shooting under 30 percent, regained his scoring touch, hitting 7-of-10 field goals. He also had 11 rebounds. An Oakley 3-pointer just before the 24-second buzzer gave Toronto a 72-62 lead with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

Ron Artest had 20 points for the Bulls and Corey Benjamin had 14 off the bench.

The Raptors led by as many as 13 points midway through the fourth quarter, but Brand led a brief Bulls rally with three baskets down the stretch, making the score 87-81 with 4:52 left. Then, Davis had a powerful dunk off a rebound and Willis connected on a sky hook, opening a 91-81 lead with 3:47 remaining.

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