Third Quarter Collapse: Spotlight Shines Bright On Carter

Magic Blog’ Third Quarter Collapse knows that the pressure goes up a notch every time Vince Carter takes on the Toronto Raptors. There’s a lot of folks up there who look forward to watching him fail. Vince made sure to do his best to disappoint them tonight. For the most part.

The spotlight always shines a bit brighter on Carter when he visits the Raptors, and looking at the boxscore it might be tempting to say he wilted today, with another inefficient game. I don’t think that’s fair, given how he played. He got to wherever he wanted on the floor with relative ease, and in the early going, he made the basket his destination. Unfortunately, he struggled to finish after absorbing contact, even missing two dunks. In the second half, perhaps irritated by the contact the officials were letting go, he turned his game more toward the perimeter. It worked. He shot 7-of-13 in the second half overall, scoring 18 points, with just 1 attempt at the basket; he also drew four free throws. For whatever reason, he was simply more comfortable from mid-range.