Mavericks at Raptors
He's back — again. Vince Carter makes his latest appearance in Toronto on Wednesday as he leads the Dallas Mavericks to town against the Raptors. It's the 13th return to Canada for Carter since the one-time face of the Raptors franchise was traded to the New Jersey Nets. His Mavericks come into the game having nearly squandered a 20-point lead in a narrow victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Toronto fell just shy of a 30-point comeback in a loss to Charlotte.
Yet, despite how compelling the other storylines may be, the focus — as always — will be on Carter, who alienated even the most ardent fans by admitting that he didn't compete his hardest in his final games with the Raptors. Carter is no longer the electifying presence he was when he starred in Toronto, but has emerged as a solid bench option for a Mavericks team competing for a playoff spot in the West. The Raptors have dropped three of four to fall back to the .500 mark.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSSW (Dallas), Sportsnet (Toronto)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (25-18): While Carter may be the focal point of the fans' ire Wednesday, the players on the court had better pay attention to forward Dirk Nowitzki. The future Hall of Famer — taken four picks after Carter in the 1998 draft — is looking as dangerous as ever, averaging a team-high 21.1 points and 5.9 rebounds while continuing to fare well from beyond the arc (39.3 percent) and at the free-throw line (90.1). Nowitzki struggled from the 3-point line against Cleveland — missing all five of his attempts — but still managed to rack up 17 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (20-20): Toronto hasn't had back-to-back results this disappointing all season — one day after squandering a 19-point first-half deficit in a home loss to the Lakers, the Raptors fell behind 71-41 in the third quarter at Charlotte and couldn't recover despite closing to within a point in the final minute. Reserve forward Chuck Hayes told the Toronto Sun: "You can't spot (anybody) 30 points in this league, guys are too good and everybody's a professional. I admire our effort there in the end but the game was won in the first half."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Toronto earned a 109-108 road victory in overtime in their previous encounter Dec. 20.
2. Carter averages 19 points in 28 career games against the team that acquired him in a draft-day trade for Antawn Jamison in 1998.
3. Mavericks C Samuel Dalembert (shoulder) played just 14 minutes against Cleveland and is considered day-to-day.