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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
TORONTO (AP) -- Doug Christie took a page out of the Miami Heat's book and played a little long ball.
| | Tracy McGrady soars between Alonzo Mourning, left, and P.J. Brown for a dunk.
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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.
Vince Carter, who had 24 points, led a fourth-quarter charge with nine points in the period. Antonio Davis, who came in a trade from Indiana in the offseason, had 13 rebounds for Toronto.
"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 opener 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.
Game notes
Miami is 12-3 against Toronto overall. ... There were only
33 free throw attempts in the game. ... Miami's rookie 6-foot-5
point guard Rodney Buford was found with a small amount of
marijuana by Canadian customs Wednesday night. Although he wasn't
charged, he was sent home and faces disciplinary action. Buford,
who averaged 18.6 points and 7.2 rebounds at Creighton, had two
points in four minutes in his NBA debut Tuesday against Detroit.
... Carter, last season's rookie of the year, was held scoreless in
the first quarter after getting into early foul trouble.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 97 Miami 86
Milwaukee 119 Atlanta 109
Charlotte 98 Indiana 89
San Antonio 104 Golden State 81
Phoenix 84 Philadelphia 80
Utah 98 Houston 82
Seattle 106 Dallas 96
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