Vince Leads Raptors Past Cavs

Vince Carter knew what he needed to do Sunday night.

Carter scored 36 points for the second straight game, and hit a decisive 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in the Toronto Raptors' 98-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Coach called time and was saying something and I just said, `Forget all that guys, we're going to go out and win this one on our own,"' Carter said.

Carter broke an 88-88 tie with a 26-foot jump shot from the left wing to put Toronto ahead to stay as the shot clock was about to expire.

After Bob Sura made two free throws with 44.5 seconds left to make it 91-90, Carter came back with a nifty pass to Charles Oakley for an 8-footer from the baseline that restored Toronto's 3-point lead with 22.9 seconds to go.

"I was double-teamed and then saw `Oak,"' Carter said. "I got him the ball and he made a big basket there. Real big."

The clubs exchanged free throws in the final seconds and Lamond Murray hit a long 3-pointer with five seconds to play for Cleveland's only basket in the final 4:51.

Murray and Sura each scored 20 points to lead Cleveland.

Doug Christie, who had 20 points, made two free throws with four seconds left for Toronto and Sura split a pair from the line with under a second to play.

Rookie point guard Andre Miller's pressing defense helped Clevelnd go on an 11-0 run to take an 86-77 lead.

"I had Christie on the bench seeing what Miller was doing and sent him back out there to stop it," Toronto coach Butch Carter said.

Christie's defense then helped the Raptors hold Cleveland without a field goal for 4:47. Toronto came back with its own 11-0 run, capped by an 18-foot jumper by Carter with 1:28 left to take an 88-86 lead.

Cleveland's Shawn Kemp, who made just two of 14 shots from the field, tied the score at 88 with two free throws with 1:13 to play. Kemp finished with 12 points.

Carter's 15 first-half points helped Toronto take a 46-40 lead.

Carter twice brought the crowd to its feet with two slam dunks in an otherwise listless first half. The first was a powerful right-handed effort over Cavs center Andrew DeClercq that gave Toronto a 10-8 lead.

Carter later timed a lob pass from Alvin Williams and finished a two-handed slam to give the Raptors a 38-29 advantage.

Toronto's 10 turnovers led to 12 first-half points by the Cavaliers that helped Cleveland stay close.

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