Raptors Tear Into Knicks

In Doug Christie, the Toronto Raptors may have found the point guard they need.

Vince Carter scored 29 points and Tracy McGrady had 18, including 14 in the third quarter, as the Raptors won their seventh straight home game with a 91-70 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.

Christie, the Raptors starting point guard for the past three weeks, had 11 assists in the first quarter and a career-high 13 overall.

"If he's going to play like that, spiders need to bite his behind every night," said Toronto coach Butch Carter, who met with Christie on Monday to alleviate Christie's fear that he might be traded.

"I told him I won't trade him, but he sees on the Internet that he will be traded and then he has the insecurity of seeing Tracy and Carter come on like gangbusters. He and I just need to communicate."

Christie, normally a shooting guard, said he's comfortable playing the point.

"It worked out really good tonight," he said.

McGrady, wearing a brace on his right arm after bruising it during Saturday's All-Star dunk contest, dominated in the third by scoring 10 straight points at one point. He also had two crowd-pleasing blocks on Allan Houston.

Carter, the slam dunk champion, dominated the first quarter by scoring 15 points as the Raptors outscored the Knicks 32-16. Toronto's star forward blew past Latrell Sprewall for two spectacular dunks.

The Raptors led by as many as 18 in the first half, but the Knicks went on a 29-13 run, with Houston scoring 13 oints, to pull to 47-45 before the Raptors ended the quarter a 6-0 run.

"If Doug Christie plays against as little pressure as he played against tonight, he can be a pretty good point guard," New York coach Jeff Van Gundy said.

Toronto opened a 23-point lead in the third quarter as the Raptors held New York to just eight points.

McGrady singlehandedly outscored New York 14-8 in the third. His 10 straight points included two slam dunks, a fadaway 16-foot jump shot, two free throws and a layup.

"I was out there for one reason," McGrady said. "To get them stopped and that's what I did."

Dell Curry's 3-pointer with 9:38 left in the fourth gave Toronto a 79-54 lead.

Houston led New York with 17 points. Patrick Ewing was held to just seven points. Sprewell, who guarded Carter for most of the game, had 10.

Charles Oakley, who spent 10 seasons with the Knicks, has 15 points and six rebounds.

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