December 15, 2006

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TORONTO (CP) - This was a visit to Toronto that Vince Carter wants to forget.

Carter finished with a season-low 12 points and was booed with every touch of the ball as the Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 90-78 on Friday.

Two days before the two-year anniversary of the trade that sent him to New Jersey, the seven-time all star made just four of 17 shots from the field and missed four of his eight free throw attempts.

Vince Carter had a rare off night among his returns to Toronto. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

``It's just one of those nights, you know,'' said Carter. ``I couldn't really get in that rhythm. More than anything I'm disappointed in my free throw shooting.''

No other Net took or missed as many shots as Carter, who had just one basket in each of the first and second quarters and missed his only shot from the floor in the fourth.

``We all have nights like that,'' said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. ``He's going to bounce back.''

Carter came into Toronto red-hot. He made a career-best nine three pointers in a victory over Memphis on Monday then followed that with six more from beyond the arc in a Wednesday night win over Milwaukee.

``He loves coming in here and playing but he's human,'' said New Jersey guard Jason Kidd. ``You can't always sit back and hope that he goes for thirty. He just had a bad game. He had some good looks. They just didn't roll in for him tonight.''

The Raptors kept Carter off-balance by guarding him with different players. Anthony Parker, Jorge Garbajosa and Rasho Nesterovic all took turns containing Carter, who entered the game as the league's seventh-leading scorer.

``The way he's been playing we wanted him to crowd him, have him see a lot of bodies,'' explained Toronto coach Sam Mitchell. ``We didn't want to give him any threes because he's been shooting them so well. Then you've got to worry about him driving to the basket.''

Friday's game was Carter's first game north of the border since he poured in 42 points, including a game-winning overtime three-pointer, in a 105-104 win on January 8.

Still bitter about that loss, and his acrimonious departure, Toronto fans booed lustily during the pre-game introductions and cheered every Carter turnover, foul or miss, including a second quarter air-ball.

At one point in the fourth, Carter stood alone in the back court as a derisive chant rang out around the arena.

A testy Carter insisted the hostile crowd didn't hurt his game.

``I could care less,'' he said. ``Everywhere you go you hear something. You know people are yelling. I've been playing ball too long for that to bother me.''

Asked whether he had any sympathy for his opponent, Parker was quick to respond.

``No,'' he said. ``It's not big surprise for me, the way things ended, that that's the reception he gets coming back.''