RAPTORS DAZZLE LAKERS; CARTER AND MCGRADY ARE THE SHOWSTOPPERS : TORONTO 111, LAKERS 102.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

From north of the border came the traveling high-wire act - Ringling Bros., Carter and McGrady Circus - and the Lakers couldn't tell whether to watch and marvel at the gravity-defying acts or stop them.

But this three-ring show apparently has no limits, and even a circus tent can't cover Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and their Toronto Raptors co-stars when all are firing in sync. That's exactly what happened Sunday night at Staples Center, and the Lakers are probably still oohing and ahhing a bit at the results, even if those exclamations are just expressions of the pain of a 111-102 loss.

``They put on a good show. It was the Vince Show tonight,'' said Lakers guard Ron Harper, one of Carter's many foils on a 34-point night. ``They have a very fine team over there, young players who can jump out of the gym. . . . We don't have athletes that can jump that high.

``I mean shoot, I'm 35. I don't jump that high anymore,'' Harper said. ``Maybe when I was 17, I could jump that high and hang around. But they've got some athletes that can jump out the gym and anytime you got them kind of guys, we're in for a long year.''

Or, as Shaquille O'Neal noted of Carter: ``Half man, half amazing.''

For perhaps the first time this season, the Lakers really missed Kobe Bryant, their only truly athletic presence. Fortunately for them, no NBA team has the same combination of weapons as the Raptors, and thankfully, they reside in the East.

When Carter wasn't floating above the cylinder, he was giving way to Toronto's other weapons - from the athletic McGrady (12 points), to the bruising Antonio Davis (13 points, 10 rebounds) to the veteran shooting savvy of Dee Brown (15 points) and Dell Curry 13 points).

Arguably, the Lakers just don't have the right bodies to match that arsenal. Derek Fisher thought otherwise.

``It wasn't like we were playing against Jesus,'' he said. ``They played well. And they made shots. But they didn't have anyone that couldn't be guarded or couldn't be contained with the proper defense. We didn't get stops when we had to. It's not anything that can't be corrected.''

Easiest solution? Don't play the Raptors. Or get Bryant healthy before the rematch.

Despite the mismatches, the Lakers stayed close on the strength of O'Neal's 37 points and 19 rebounds and a 29-point performance from Glen Rice.

Harper added 15 points, but the Lakers were a three-man show. No one else contributed. Coach Phil Jackson even started Rick Fox over A.C. Green in the second half to put another shooter on the floor, but Fox came up firing blanks - 1 for 6.

``We just haven't had a consistent bench performance,'' Jackson said. ``Their bench beat us tonight basically.''

The Lakers trailed almost continuously from the first quarter on, and their last lead came late in the third quarter, 76-74. But the Raptors, despite having Carter hobbled from a midair collision with O'Neal, regained control, took a 2-point lead into the fourth, then used a 16-2 run - and eight straight points from Curry - to pull away again 95-83.

The Lakers rode a late surge on the shooting of Harper and Brian Shaw to make it a game once more. Harper's layup with just under 2 minutes left pulled the Lakers within three points, 102-99, but that's as close as it got.

Carter hit a jumper and Brown nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the game to extend the Raptors' lead to 107-99 with 1:06 left. Rice hit a 3-pointer, but Shaw missed a 3 moments later and Toronto came up with the loose ball to seal the win.

``We just got in a point in the game where we just couldn't stop them,'' Jackson said. ``That was one of our problems tonight, was our defense, and we couldn't seem to ever solve the personnel. When we did take the lead, they just continued to score and we just couldn't match that pace. . . . We just didn't match the intensity of the game when it came down to a critical point where we just got the game back within four points in the 90s.''

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO The Lakers' Glen Rice, who scored 29 points, challenges Toront o's Tracy McGrady.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

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