http://www.canoe.ca/Slam030301/nba_tor1-sun.html

Celtics by a neck

By BILL HARRIS -- Toronto Sun

BOSTON -- Vince Carter sat with his neck wrapped in a towel filled with ice,
bent over with his head on a trainer's table, looking like he had a
brain-splitting headache.

Strangely symbolic of the Raptors' season, isn't it?

Carter sprained his neck late in the Raptors' 90-85 loss to the Boston Celtics
last night before a crowd of 18,624 at the FleetCenter. He barely could move
after the game because the whole left side of his body was stiff and his status
for the rematch with the Celtics tomorrow at the Air Canada Centre is unknown.

The Celtics' Antoine Walker landed on Carter as the two were battling for a
loose ball under the Boston basket with 1:27 to play.

"That's who it was?" Carter asked when told it was Walker who had crunched him.

Carter then flashed a weary smile and said: "That's why it hurt. I just saw
somebody falling, and your natural reaction is, you try to cover yourself. But
with his weight, he was coming fast."

Carter lay on the court for several minutes and had to be helped to the bench.

"At first I was a little dizzy when I tried to get up," Carter said. "The pain
was just so excruciating."

The Raptors, who had been puzzlingly flat for the first 31/2 quarters, were down
by only three points and had the momentum when Carter left the game. The Raptors
subsequently cut the deficit to two points in the final minute, but by the time
Carter returned for the final 18.8 seconds, the Celtics were back in charge.

Asked if it was particularly frustrating to get injured just as the Raptors were
on the verge of perhaps salvaging a bad night, Carter said: "(Bleep) happens."

It sure does. It happens all the time to this team, and to Carter in particular.

The Raptors dropped to 17-38 with the defeat and even though their season
unofficially has been written off for quite some time, their just-completed
0-for-2 road trip still stings.

It should, too. This flat-out was a bad trip, folks.

On Wednesday in Chicago, the Raptors seemed to have the game totally in control
before falling apart late in the third quarter against the Bulls.

Last night, the Raptors simply did not show up until late in the game, despite
the fact their opponent was undermanned. The Raptors couldn't shoot straight
(36.6%), they got smucked in the paint (outscored 48-26) and they had just
enough defensive lapses to give the equally error-prone Celtics the edge.

While the Raptors were without their best player for only a crucial minute, the
Celtics were without their best player for the entire game. Boston's Paul Pierce
did not play because of a sore lower back that he hurt when he slipped on some
ice, and it isn't known if he'll play tomorrow, either.

"It was four or five days ago, over at my house," Pierce said. "I'm just staying
off my feet as much as possible."

Boston's other all-star, Walker, tried to make up for Pierce's absence by
shooting the ball like a mad fool. Walker had 22 points on 9-for-28 shooting, 11
rebounds and nine assists, while J.R. Bremer added 20 points for the home side.

Top scorer for the Raptors was Carter with 18 points. Antonio Davis had 13
points and 14 rebounds, while Jerome Williams collected 12 points and 10
rebounds.

Raptors centre Jelani McCoy was a last-minute scratch because of a sprained left
ankle. He will be re-evaluated today, as will Carter.