Raptors' on loss to C's

[kevin <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

Raptors fall to pieces
Celtics win 94-90 as Toronto squanders fourth-quarter lead
By Doug Smith
Toronto Star Sports Reporter
BOSTON - The Raptors may fancy themselves a legitimate NBA playoff
team but they put on a distinctly draft lottery-like finish here
last night.
Allowing the Celtics to rattle off a 14-0 run in the game's dying
minutes, the Raptors let another winnable game slip away in a
disheartening 94-90 loss that moved them a step closer to giving
back all the gains they made early in the season.
``There's nothing to feel good about with this team,'' said an
angry Charles Oakley after the Raptors blew an 89-78 lead with 4
1/2 minutes remaining. ``We're almost at .500 and we haven't
accomplished a thing. We're not an elite team, we're nowhere near
an elite team.
``Some guys don't know what it takes to be an elite team.''
But the Raptors did show they know what it takes to not be an
elite team.
Clinging to a late lead with Vince Carter suffering through a bad
shooting night and the rest of the offence bogged down, the
Raptors let the Celtics come back thanks to some wide-open
three-point shots. Calbert Cheaney was left open in the corner for
the three that made it 89-89 with 51 seconds left and Paul Pierce
was alone on the perimeter for the game-winner with 4.6 seconds
left.
``Those are players you have to close out on,'' said Doug
Christie. ``We have to make sure guys who are capable of making
those shots aren't left alone. A guy like Calbert or Paul Pierce,
you have to be close enough to make them drive and then even if
they get two, you're still ahead.''
On both threes, the Celts got the ball after rebounding a miss.
Those last daggers were two of five three-pointers Boston used to
complete its dramatic comeback in front of 16,124 excited fans.
``We got into a situation in the fourth quarter where the ball
just seemed to bounce their way and they made the threes,'' said
Raptors coach Butch Carter.
``If they don't get them, or they're just twos, we're up four with
20 seconds to go and they have to foul.''
The Raptors compounded Boston's outside effectiveness with their
own poor shooting. Carter struggled to an 8-for-28 night and
didn't have a basket in the final quarter while the normally solid
Muggsy Bogues missed a couple of short jumpers that are usually
his bread and butter.
``Even if (Bogues) makes one of them, we're walking to the free
throw line and if we make our free throws we win,'' said Butch
Carter. ``But you have to give them credit, they did make their
shots.''
Having now lost five straight on the road, Toronto's just 20-19 on
the season and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The
18-20 Celtics are their closest pursuers as the season enters its
second half next week.
Despite a team-high 20 points, Vince Carter had one of his poorest
shooting games of the season. Three of his eight baskets came on
dunks, another was on a desperation midcourt three-pointer at
halftime, making him just four-for-24 on the rest of the evening.
``I missed a lot of open shots, that's just going to happen
sometimes,'' he said.
The Celtics, now winners of three straight, showed the kind of
effort in the face of adversity that's often lacking from the
Raptors.
``It was a huge win for us,'' said Celtics coach Rick Pitino. ``It
was a very big win because you have to give Toronto all the credit
in the world. They outplayed us, they played hard, they took
everything we had and made smart plays. But we kept running it out
and we never stopped.''
Pierce led the Celtics with 30 points, the same number he scored
in a season-opening Boston triumph in Toronto.

Raptors fall flat
Celtics ice win with 14-0 run down the stretch
By FRANK ZICARELLI -- Toronto Sun
  BOSTON -- The Raptors suddenly find themselves in deep trouble
after finding yet another way of blowing a game.
 But this self-inflicted wound may take time to heal.
 With a frenzied FleetCenter crowd on its feet and the Boston
Celtics making their shots and applying pressure on defence, the
Raptors couldn't respond to the challenge, losing 94-90 last
night.
 The Raptors were up by as many as 15 points in the fourth
quarter, were ahead 89-78 with 4:30 left and then disappeared at
both ends of the floor as Boston went on a 14-0 run to steal a
win.
 Vince Carter had maybe his worst game as a Raptor. He wasn't
getting any calls but wasn't make any shots either. And the
Raptors simply stood around too much.
 Carter went 8-for-28 from the field, but three baskets came off
dunks and one beat the halftime buzzer from 36 feet.
 Carter wasn't about to discuss the officials, but took some of
the heat for Toronto's meltdown.
 "I missed a lot of shots,'' Carter said after scoring a team-high
20 points. "Any game you lose is tough. They got the job done in
the fourth and we didn't.''
 Carter missed some open looks, Muggsy Bogues missed two open
jumpers and when the ball found any other Raptor, the shot-clock
was near expiration.
 "I thought it would be important to get a win with Vince shooting
poorly,'' Raptors coach Butch Carter said. "We have a void in
verbal leadership and meanness on this team. We have no one out on
the perimeter who has had to fight for a playoff spot.''
 A Calbert Cheaney layup triggered Boston's run. Cheaney had eight
points in the game, all of them during the Celtics' surge,
including a three-pointer on an open look that tied the game,
89-89, with 51.1 seconds left.
 Paul Pierce's go-ahead three-pointer also came on an open look
when the Raptors couldn't control the boards and did a bad job
covering Boston's shooters.
 "In all-time losses, this ranks as the second worst,'' the
Raptors' Doug Christie said. The team's longest-serving player
referred to a late-game collapse in Charlotte in Year 2 as the
worst loss.
 "We had a lack of aggression. What got us the lead has to get us
the win. We can't relent,'' Christie said.
 The Raptors returned home last night following an 0-3 trip and
with an overall record of 20-19.
 The Celtics, led by Pierce's game-high 30 points, improved to
18-20.
 Charles Oakley returned to the Raptors lineup after sitting out a
one-game suspension.
 Typically, his presence was noticed on the floor, where he played
with five fouls in the fourth quarter and recorded a double-double
(10 points, 10 rebounds), and inside the locker room, where he
reiterated a season-long theme.
 "There's nothing to feel good about this team,'' Oakley said. "We
have a lot of work to do. People are giving us too much credit. We
have good individuals, but this is a team game that requires team
effort.''
 Oakley was then asked whether last night's collapse would serve
as a wakeup call.
 "Why were we (bleeping) asleep in the first place?''