BOSTON, November 10, 2008(AP) -- Paul Pierce walked into the postgame interview room with his right hand wrapped in ice, cooling down after a hot shooting final quarter. "We're cooling it down,'' Kevin Garnett joked after Pierce scored 22 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead Boston's 94-87 comeback win over the Raptors on Monday night. It was something the Raptors' defenders couldn't do. "I've had a sprained hand for about a week, so we're just icing it down,'' Pierce said. "I try not to think about it. It's been bothering me.'' If it was, it certainly didn't show Monday night. Pierce made 7-of-9 shots in the final quarter - including a pair of 3s just 40 seconds apart midway into the period - as Boston overcame an eight-point deficit en route to its fifth straight win. "You look at the shots Paul Pierce made,'' Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "He drove the basket a couple of times, but he was making a lot of 18, 19-foot shots with guys contesting him.'' Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 19 points for the Celtics (7-1). Boston scored 58 points in the second half after getting just 36 in the opening 24 minutes. "I love when Superman goes in the booth and transforms,'' Garnett said of Pierce's performance. "I love it. I got the best seat in the house.'' Jermaine O'Neal recovered from a rough night in Sunday's win over Charlotte, leading the Raptors (4-3) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Parker scored 15 and Jason Kapono 14 for Toronto. "In the fourth quarter, they did a good job of making shots,'' O'Neal said. "Ray, Paul and the others have an incredible comfort level with each other. We've got to figure a way to keep those guys down, especially when we're up 15 or 16 points in a game.'' With the score tied 84-all, Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who had trouble containing O'Neal most the game, blocked a turnaround and Pierce hit a jumper on the other end, giving the Celtics an 86-84 lead with 1:38 left. On the ensuing possession, O'Neal lost the ball out of bounds. Pierce then hit a 17-footer to give Boston a four-point edge before putting the game away with a spinning, driving scoop shot that made it 90-84 with 34.4 seconds left. When the ball went through the hoop, Pierce turned and pump his right fist as the Raptors called timeout. Boston, which trailed by 15 points early in the third quarter and by six entering the fourth, used a scrappy, trapping halfcourt defense to bottle up the Raptors' offense while going on a 9-2 run to close the score to 71-70 on Pierce's jumper with 8:19 to play. The teams traded 3-pointers - with Pierce getting both for Boston - before Eddie House made a 3 from the right corner to give the Celtics their first lead since the game's opening minutes, 79-77, with 4:45 to go. Toronto had opened a 57-42 edge on Jose Calderon's jumper 3 1/2 minutes into the third quarter before Boston started its comeback. Garnett scored six points and Pierce five during a 15-4 run as the Celtics closed the gap to three before Jason Kapono hit a 3-pointer to give the Raptors a 65-59 lead after three. O'Neal, ineffective in a season-low 19 1/2 minutes of action with only five free throws in Sunday's 89-79 win against the Charlotte Bobcats, took control inside early in the game. He scored 10 of the Raptors' first 14 points as they opened a 23-18 edge after one. Toronto, which outplayed Boston in the paint and held the Celtics to 32 percent shooting, led 48-36 at halftime. O'Neal had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting in opening half. The Raptors pushed their advantage to 16 points twice in the second quarter, the second when O'Neal eclipsed his previous season-high with two free throws to make it 46-30 late in the half. Notes: Chris Bosh, who scored 30 and grabbed 15 boards in the win at Charlotte, had only nine points. ... Pierce went just 2-for-10 from the floor in the first half. ... The Raptors gave Boston just one of its six home losses last season, hitting 15 3-pointers in a 114-112 win on Jan. 23. ... Boston G Rajon Rondo had his left elbow wrapped in ice the locker room before the game. ... Toronto had more assists (13) than Boston had baskets (12) in the first half. Made by NBA TV.

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Desperation shot by MoPete to tie the game!! This is after some bonehead Wizard's player just throws the ball up! The best part is the completely shocked Washington broadcaster announcing the game

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Chris Bosh Debut's the Toronto Raptors new all black Canadian Jersey!

I usually like to leave game recaps up to Hoopsencyclopedia because he's "the man" for it, but I've taken it upon myself to cover a game that on the surface may not mean a lot, but underneath went on to hold it's own high-value for multiple reasons. To many young fans today, this isn't exactly a historical game - and for good reason. In the context of basketball history, not many regular season games are truly memorable, classic, or historical. But many also become classics in their own right, for records made, or for final meetings. This one has a little mix of everything - including Toronto's largest ever crowd of over 36,000 fans at the Sky Dome. In their previous meeting of the '95-'96 season Michael was the acclaimed "Raptor killer", sinking the Raptors and posting 14 fourth quarter points. In this game, he posts 36 points on 63.6% shooting (14-22) with 15 in the fourth quarter. Amazingly, 13 of his 15 fourth quarter points come in the last 4 minutes and 20 seconds of playing time. These were the games of his post-baseball career (seemingly happened a lot in 95-96) that made you wish his team wasn't as great as it was, just so you could see him continue to light it up all game long. Unfortunately, Michael never did anything that wasn't necessary. The expansion team, Toronto Raptors, face off against Michael Jordan and a Bulls team that went on to win an all time NBA record of 72 regular season wins. But what the 36,131 fans that packed the Sky Dome on this night may not realise, is that they were watching a story filled with subplots unfold upon the hardwood of a basketball court. Michael Jordan. Alvin Robertson. Damon Stoudamire. Chicago Bulls. Toronto Raptors. 72. 8. What people don't realise, though, is that the Raptors that year were actually stacked with talent that could do harm in any league of any era had they have had the correct team chemistry, confidence, and playing time required to do so. Damon Stoudamire was a rookie, who, in my opinion is one of the most underrated PG talents of our generation. In the 95-96 season, he went on to win ROY and set multiple records including a then record 133 3PT FG's for a rookie. He was also chasing second place for most assists by a rookie, on the tail of Oscar Robertson. He went on to post 19.0ppg and 9.3apg (something that the top PGs of the league today fail to do), while setting multiple franchise records for the Toronto Raptors that still stand today, including most assists by a player (19). In this game, he seemed to be having a shoot out with Steve Kerr and Michael Jordan. Damon posted 30 points, 11 assists and went 6-8 from three point land. Then there's the subplot of Michael vs. Robertson. Great friends, old team mates ('84 olympics), and fierce competitors. History has it, that this would be the last time either of the old timers would face off against each other in professional competition (Robertson retired after '96). For those of you who don't know much about Alvin Robertson, he's perhaps one of the greatest perimiter, roaming, and lock down defenders to ever play the game. He's 1st all-time in steals per game, and he has an anticipation that many see players such as Bruce Bowen to have today. It's no coincidence or conspiracy that he was named DPOY in '85-'86. While both players here are far past their athletic and statistical prime (Jordan 33, Alvin 34), they don't fail to impress and excite. Alvin plays Jordan's turnarounds like only few could; they battle hard for position and trash talk each other all night long. It's also notable that Alvin averaged 2.2 steals per game this season, which would've been good enough for first place in 06-07. Of course, Michael was no defensive slouch either ;), coincidentally averaging 2.2spg. With far too much already said... I'll leave the game to unfold. Enjoy.

SportsTwo.com 2000 Toronto Raptors Review 45-37, Finished 3rd in NBA Central Division Awesome year. Toronto Raptors Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Antonio Davis Doug Christie Kevin Willis Charles Oakley Dell Curry Muggsy Bogues Alvin Williams Dee Brown John Thomas Michael Stewart Haywoode Workman Sean Marks Aleksandar Radojevic Antonio Lang Butch Carter Playoffs: Lost East Conf 1st Rd (3-0) to New York Knickerbockers

2008-2009 Starting Lineup + A music Video. Enjoy!

Quick preview Saturday night at STAPLES Center, the Lakers destroyed Regal F.C. Barcelona down low, amassing an absurd 74 points in the paint thanks to a huge size mismatch featuring Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm and even D.J. Mbenga (not to mention some terrific transition offense). The four posts combined for 42 points and 16 boards while ceding just 28 points in the paint to visitors from Spain. Operating on the block wont be so easy on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, as the visiting Toronto Raptors boast one of the NBAs few four-five combos - in Chris Bosh and Jermaine ONeal - that can challenge that of the defending Western Conference Champs. Pregame I promise that I did a seven-minute pregame interview with Jordan Farmar and Brandon Heath to detail how different players prepare on game day, but the new mic we hooked up to the recorder is still in the well lets call it the testing stage. So thats blown. Instead of trying to paraphrase, Ill save that for another game. Sorry, thats no fun. First Quarter What is fun is a watching the Lakers play at STAPLES on consecutive evenings. Here are your starting matchups for tonight: C: Andrew Bynum - Jermaine ONeal PF: Pau Gasol - Chris Bosh SF: Vladimir Radmanovic - Joey Graham SG: Kobe Bryant - Brother of Candace Parker PG: Derek Fisher - Jose Calderon By the way, thats no insult to Anthony Parker, because his sister can seriously hoop (even though I prefer Candice Wiggins). However, if he took it as an insult, he scored Torontos first five points as an answer. L.A. got on the board promptly as Gasol and Bynum made four straight free throws and Fish canned a three. Kobe, who swiped six balls last night, took only three minutes to make his first robbery tonight, and streaked up floor to a baseline fadeaway to make it 9-7 Lakers. Kobes going to have the authorities after him if this blatant, unapologetic thievery continues. Its been a relative track meet thus far, with L.A. needing just six minutes to score 17 points, a pace that would result in 144 points for the evening. The signature play of the stretch for Lakers fans should have been the gorgeous look inside from Gasol to a somewhat-unsuspecting Bynum, who nonetheless corralled the pass before getting blasted by Graham. Great look. As Kobe scored his seventh point on a dunk after another steal to put L.A. up 23-11, I noticed something nearly as important For anyone who watches The Office, I think I see Steve Merchant - one of the original creators of the BBC version staring co-creator Ricky Gervais - sitting next to trainer Gary Vitti by the Laker bench. He is categorically, 100-percent hilarious, and if I get a chance Ill head down to interview him at halftime. Back-to-back great Laker plays on each side of the ball: first came a tough alley-oop pass from Vlad-Rad and a fabulous catch and dunk from Bynum; second a newly checked in Lamar Odom swat of ONeal in the lane. Im discussing with Ty how good the Lakers look on both sides of the floor. Defensively, its because of length and activity, and on offense, theres been terrific ball movement. These can certainly be taken as good signs, even in the preseason, and collectively we saw a 29-20 first quarter edge as a result. Bryant continued his hot shooting from last night by hitting 3-of-4 from the field and free throw line, while Bynum was good for seven points and three boards, not to mention five from Fish and four from Trevor Ariza. Toronto got seven from Parker and four each from ONeal and Bosh, plus four assists from Calderon, last seasons leader in assist-to-turnover ratio and Spanish teammate of Gasol. Want to know a cool name? How about Roko Ukic? Am I wrong? Ukic is a 23-year-old Croatian who played for Spanish champion TAU Ceramica with Calderon a few years back and Lottomatica Roma last season; Toronto inked him to a three-year deal in the offseason. This makes Ty and I think of some other elite NBA names: God Shammgod (one year in the league with Washington in 1997-98); Jamario Moon; Mickael Gelabale; Rudy Gay; Marcin Gortat (hes a real person, a post for the Magic); Richard Hendrix (just for the unnecessary x); Serge Ibaka (dangerous sounding, no?); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (OK, some of these are just different foreign names); Kosta Koufos; David Lee (just kidding); Josh McRoberts; Nene; Zaza Pachulia (captain of this team); Ime Udoka.

Preseason Game4 Toronto Raptors vs Zalgiris Kaunas 17/10/07 Raptors Soar to Win Over European Team Posted Oct 17 2007 10:10PM Jose Calderon was among six Raptors in double figures with 12 points. 2006-07 Stats at a Glance Toronto 105, Zalgiris Kaunas 99 TORONTO, Oct. 17 (AP) -- Jason Kapono and T.J. Ford each scored 13 points, and the Toronto Raptors beat Zalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League 105-99 in an exhibition game on Wednesday. Jose Calderon added 12 points for the Raptors, who had six players score in double figures. Ford finished with 11 assists. Jonas Maciulis had 24 points for the touring European team, while DeJuan Collins scored 16. The Raptors played their first game in Toronto after a 13-day day trip to Europe. They lost their last game to Real Madrid last week. Toronto coach Sam Mitchell hoped that loss would serve as a wake-up call for his team. This game went down to the wire, but four straight points by Carlos Delfino put the Raptors up 100-99 with 2:25 left and they didn't trail again. The Lithuanians had several hundred boisterous fans at Air Canada Centre, waving the national flag and chanting. Zalgiris Kaunas is the defending Lithuanian National League champions, an honor the team has won 14 times since the country earned its independence in 1991. They lost to Golden State on Monday.

Rafer Alston (Toronto Raptors) Damn

Visit http://www.nba.com/video for more highlights. Preview of the first-round playoff series between the Magic and Raptors.

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I have made this video of AI vs Vince Carter the Toronto Raptors in 2001 NBA Playoff. Every single points of Iverson is included from Game 1 to Game 7. Vince Carter versus Allen Iverson is the kind of marquee matchup the NBA has been craving since the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. As two of the NBA's most exciting young stars, they are dazzling spectators and TV viewers with limitless creativity and breathtaking moves in the Toronto Raptors-Philadelphia 76ers playoff series. "This matchup is great, and people are getting turned on to it," said NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, who was at Philadelphia's First Union Center on Wednesday night, when Iverson scored 54 points to Carter's 28 in the 76ers' 97-92 victory. "For better or worse, fans like it when you get superstars going against each other. People have been hearing about these guys for years now, but they haven't gotten this far before where they met each other at this level. That gets people interested." With the NBA's overall popularity declining and new rules designed to make the game more appealing set to take effect next season, an Iverson-Carter matchup is what the league really needed. "Watching these two kids, I don't think our league is in any trouble," 76ers coach Larry Brown said. "They really are exciting." Toronto coach Lenny Wilkens feels much the same way. "I think you are going to see more great individual matchups as the young kids we have in this league develop," he said. "We are always rushing to fix this and fix that, but maybe there is not always something wrong. The young guys have to be able to grow and make some mistakes. Let them grow up and then see what they can do. In this series, you are seeing two of the best going at each other." It is looking increasingly likely that Michael Jordan will end a three-year retirement next season and return to the NBA as a player. Carter and Iverson will be right there, eagerly awaiting that matchup. "You always want to test yourself against the best, and I would welcome the challenge," Iverson said. Said Carter of Jordan: "He set the standard we are all trying to reach." Jordan, of course, owns six championship rings and 10 scoring titles, while Carter, 24, has won nothing more than a rookie of the year award and a slam-dunk title. But Carter is one of the league's most popular players among fans, the leading vote-getter for the past two NBA All-Star Games. Iverson, 25, won his second scoring title this season and is favored to win this season's most valuable player award, as well. And while Iverson and Carter are going head to head, other young stars such as Milwaukee's Ray Allen, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Dallas' Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki and Sacramento's Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic also are still competing in the playoffs. In addition, the league's most improved player, Orlando's 21 year-old Tracy McGrady, was a major star of the first round even though his team lost. "We try to promote the game and the teams and all the players," Granik said. "There are just certain players who capture people's imaginations. You can't deny that. "We can't go out and create them. It just happens and they're doing it on the court. You can't make superstars, I don't care how good a promotion. It's what they do on the court, and here we have Iverson and Carter. They're doing it most nights on the floor. That's what people see and they love to watch it." The personal similarities between Carter and Iverson are few other than both are mama's boys. Iverson's mother, Ann, attends almost all of her son's games while dressed in a 76ers jersey with "IVERSON'S MOM" emblazoned on it. Carter's mother, Michelle, prefers street clothes at games, but she publicly criticized Oakley when he dared to criticize her baby boy. Though Iverson — with his corn-row hairstyle, multiple tattoos and rap albums — might appeal directly to the hip-hop generation, the more conservative Carter is Mr. Basketball in Canada. One of the Raptors' top priorities is keeping him with the franchise well beyond the 2001-02 season, when his contract expires. They have a window from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 to re-sign him. If they don't, he will become a free agent after the 2001-02 season. He and team officials prefer not to talk about the future just yet. Meanwhile, he and Iverson downplay their personal rivalry. Carter: "We try to do our thing as a team. I just try to fit in within the team concept and do what I need to do. I see what Allen is doing, but I'm not thinking about trying to outdo him personally." Iverson: "I can't accomplish anything without my teammates. I know that, they know that and everybody knows that. Vince is a great player, but he needs his teammates just like I need mine. The things my teammates do to help us win are just as important as the things I do.

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Toronto Raptors NBA Game Intro with its players dancing. What a Fun video....

Devin Harris got the record-setting rally started for the Dallas Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki had the perfect ending that finally put them on top. Once again, a 24-point lead wasn't enough for Toronto against Dallas. Nowitzki hit four straight 3-pointers in the final 1:41 of the third quarter, when the Mavericks went ahead to stay on their way to a 105-99 victory Tuesday night. It was their largest comeback ever to win a game in regulation. "Dirk's stretch is what really put the game away for us,'' Harris said. Only after Harris keyed a 12-0 run right before halftime that cut the deficit in half. "Devin came in and got us going. We really picked up our energy when he came in,'' Nowitzki said. "We were kind of sleepwalking.'' The first of Nowitzki's clutch 3-pointers tied it at 70, then he made another and another. Those three long-range shots came within a minute of each other, and Nowitzki made the last with 1.4 seconds left in the third quarter for a 79-72 lead. Those were his only 3-pointers in the game, all on passes from Jason Terry. "Jet kept looking for me on the screen-roll,'' said Nowitzki, who came in shooting only 26 percent from long range. "I've been struggling with the three-ball and when I got the first to go down, I got my confidence going.'' That was part of a bigger stretch for Nowitzki. And a long way from the game's opening minutes, when after a 10-0 run by Toronto, coach Avery Johnson benched the reigning NBA MVP and a couple of other starters because of their defensive struggles. Nowitzki scored 18 of his season-high 32 points in the third quarter, when the Mavs outscored Toronto 38-17. It was their highest-scoring quarter this season and erased a 14-point halftime deficit. After driving for a layup with 2:48 left in the third to get Dallas within 68-65, he followed a Toronto miss with the assist on Trenton Hassell's 17-foot jumper. Then Nowitzki did the rest on his own, pushing the Mavericks in the lead for good. "He stepped up and played better,'' Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "We did a lot of good things, but we just couldn't hold it together.'' Dallas also overcame a 24-point deficit against Toronto in February 2006, but won that game in overtime. The Raptors have never blown a bigger lead to lose, and now they've done it twice against Dallas. "We were supposed to do a lot better job of trapping Jason Terry and making that kickback pass a little tougher to Dirk,'' Chris Bosh said. Bosh, playing in his hometown, had a season-high 31 points with 12 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani had 20 points and Jamario Moon grabbed 12 rebounds for the Raptors. T.J. Ford, who played at the University of Texas, had 13 points but didn't play the last 16 minutes because of a stinger sustained when he took a knee to the chest trying to draw a charge against Josh Howard. "Josh exploded into me and I took the full hit,'' Ford said. "It's not that serious. ... There's a pain and a tingling feeling in my left arm. It's calmed down right now. We'll see how it responds (Wednesday).'' Harris and Terry had 19 points for Dallas, and Josh Howard added 15 points and nine rebounds. Terry made a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. Toronto led 49-25 with 5:58 left in the first half after consecutive jumpers by Jose Calderon, but Harris keyed a 12-0 run for the Mavericks when Nowitzki wasn't in the game. On the first shot after a timeout, Harris hit a 19-footer. After a bad pass by Bosh led to a 3-pointer by Harris, the Mavs point guard grabbed a defensive rebound and them made a free throw. Another turnover by Bosh led to Juwan Howard's jumper, but Harris wasn't finished. "They just jumped on Devin Harris' back,'' Bosh said. Harris drove for a layup after another Toronto miss, then made two free throws after being fouled on a shot in traffic to get the Mavs within 12. "That little spark in the second quarter, knocking the lead down the way that we did before halftime, really got us going in the third quarter,'' Harris said. "We kept chipping away. Obviously, we knew we would back a run. It's nothing new for us.'' Notes: The largest Mavericks comeback came in November 1994 when they overcame a 25-point deficit to win at Denver 124-123 in overtime. ... F Devean George (left foot stress fracture), who hasn't played this season, could practice Sunday for Dallas. .. Toronto F Jorge Garbajosa was inactive after team medical personnel saw something "unusual'' on an MRI of his left leg, the one he broke last season. Garbajosa has missed three of the Raptors' last four games.

2001 All Star and regular season MVP Allen Iverson Scored 52 points in Game 5 against Vince Carter the Toronto Raptors (2001 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoff Game) leading the Philadelphia sixers to 2001 NBA Finals Allen Iverson Kobe Bryant Tracy Mcgrady Vince Carter Dwyane Wade Shaq Jermaine O'Neal Gilbert Arenas Tim Duncan Kevin Garnett Yao Ming Chris Bosh Steve Nash Lebron James Carmelo Anthony Chris Webber Dennis Rodman Steve Francis Stephon Marbury Shawn Marion Amare Stoudemire Michael Jordan Scottie Pippen Charles Barkley Larry Bird Magic Johnson Karl Malone John Stockton Boston Celtics New Jersey Nets New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers Toronto Raptors Chicago Bulls C