Toronto Raptors

Who: Sixers (3-11) at Toronto Raptors (5-9) When: 7 p.m. Where: Air Canada Centre TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/WIP (610-AM)

At the start of the season, the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors had similar expectations. Both teams hoped to finish with a winning record and contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But with the season almost half over, only the Nets have a legitimate chance to meet their goals. Kerry Kittles scored a season-high 31 points and the Nets snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 108-100 victory over the Raptors last night. "We've learned how to finish games," said Kittles, the former Villanova star.

What more could the crowd of 25,820 at SkyDome had asked for than getting to see Shaquille O'Neal's first start of the season? How about the Toronto Raptors knocking off Shaq and his Orlando Magic teammates? The NBA expansion team handed the Magic, the owners of the league's second- best record, their worst loss of the season, 110-93, last night in front of the second-biggest crowd of the season. "They usually close it down and pour it on in the late going," said Damon Stoudamire, who had 21 points and 10 assists for the Raptors.

Alvin Williams still wants to play basketball. But the former Germantown Academy and Villanova star won't be doing it for the Toronto Raptors anymore. Toronto waived the veteran point guard yesterday. Williams has played in just one game since March 2004 because of surgeries on his right knee. With Williams due $6.8 million in the last year of his contract, general manager Bryan Colangelo said they had reached a settlement. "I'm a little disappointed," Williams said. "I still wanted to play for the Toronto Raptors and give it one more chance, a last chance.

Jalen Rose and the Toronto Raptors erased the memory of a poor outing against New Orleans with a strong performance against Phoenix. Vince Carter scored 23 points and Donyell Marshall had 15 points and 15 rebounds, leading the Raptors to an 83-73 win over the visiting Suns yesterday. Rose added 16 points and five assists for the Raptors, who were routed by the Hornets on Friday. "Any time you don't win you go home and do a lot of soul searching. " said Rose, who had just two points against the Hornets.

The sign-and-trade deal that would have sent 76ers guard John Salmons to the Toronto Raptors fell apart Friday when the four-year veteran opted out of the arrangement. The Sixers were to have received a second-round draft choice and a $2 million trade exception that would have been good for one year. Salmons, a restricted free agent who had been offered a $22 million deal by the Phoenix Suns, turned down a $23 million contract with the Raptors. Both deals were for five seasons.

This is not the kind of NBA record the Toronto Raptors wanted to set. The expansion Raptors set a record by not making a single free throw, going 0-for-3 from the foul line in a 92-91 loss to the visiting Charlotte Hornets last night. The previous record for fewest free throws in a game was one, set on Nov. 19, 1977, by the New Orleans Jazz. "Oh my goodness," exclaimed Larry Johnson, who made 10 foul shots for Charlotte. "That was the game. I don't think you can win a professional game without going to the line.

Not all the principals were thrilled with yesterday's trade involving the 76ers and the Toronto Raptors. "I'm totally frustrated," forward Tony Massenburg told the Toronto Star as he left the Raptors' hotel headquarters in Salt Lake City, where the Raptors played the Utah Jazz last night. "It's very frustrating to keep moving around, but that's the way it is. It's part of the business. " The 6-8 Massenburg and 6-9 former Villanova star Eddie Pinckney were sent to the Sixers for Sharone Wright in a deal that also gives the Sixers the option of switching first-round draft choices with the expansion franchise this year or next year.

Don't look too closely at this one - it'll make your eyes hurt. At quick glance, the 76ers' 98-93 victory Friday night over the Toronto Raptors looked like just what the doctor ordered: a win to snap a three-game losing streak. But if you look closer - or if you watched the game - you'd know that this game didn't soothe any worries. The Sixers' play fluctuated between really good and really bad. The first half was mostly good, the third quarter was really bad, and the fourth was a mix of both.

76ers Notes TORONTO - For much of the season, an underlying topic for the 76ers has been the possibility of Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner playing well together. Iguodala, the team's anointed franchise player, and Turner, the lottery draft pick, seem to cover much of the same ground: good passing, good floor game, strong rebounding, weak outside jump-shooting. During Iguodala's absence because of Achilles tendinitis, an injury that has cost him 12 games this season, Turner's numbers increased.

Who: Sixers (3-11) at Toronto Raptors (5-9) When: 7 p.m. Where: Air Canada Centre TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/WIP (610-AM)

As Chris Bosh laid on the floor dazed with blood streaming from his nose, the Toronto Raptors felt a different pain. Their road to the playoffs could be even tougher now. Flattened by an inadvertent elbow from Cleveland's Antawn Jamison, Bosh sustained a broken bone in his face last night as the Raptors, battling Chicago for the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, lost 113-101 to the Cavaliers, who have won 11 straight at home....

Jrue Holiday treats words as if they're endangered. The 76ers rookie point guard says little, punctuating his abrupt sentences with a shrug as if this entire thing - the game of basketball - isn't as complicated as the questions might imply. This season, Holiday's play has been at times mature and promising, at others youthful and overmatched. But during yesterday's 114-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors, which snapped a five-game losing streak for the Sixers, Holiday looked much more the former than the latter.

It was fan appreciation night at the Air Canada Centre. There were jersey giveaways, boxes of white T-shirts distributed, free vacations, and - perhaps most unexpected - a 111-104 Toronto Raptors victory over the 76ers. In front of 18,018 last night, and against a surprisingly more determined, more focused Raptors team, the Sixers lost their fifth straight game. For the Sixers, now 40-40, only two regular-season games remain: against the defending champion Boston Celtics and at Cleveland, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

Sam Mitchell, the feisty coach of the Toronto Raptors, was incredulous when he was asked a question last week about superstar forward Chris Bosh. When it was suggested to Mitchell that, despite his two all-star appearances, Bosh was still on the underrated side, the coach, seemingly annoyed at the line of questioning, had this response: "I think the most important thing is his peers and coaches around the league voted him an all-star the past two seasons. " While Mitchell certainly doesn't think that Bosh is underrated, the 23-year-old forward-center, who is in his fifth NBA season, is used to hearing it. "It's the story of my life," said Bosh, who will visit the Wachovia Center to play the 76ers tonight.

Alvin Williams still wants to play basketball. But the former Germantown Academy and Villanova star won't be doing it for the Toronto Raptors anymore. Toronto waived the veteran point guard yesterday. Williams has played in just one game since March 2004 because of surgeries on his right knee. With Williams due $6.8 million in the last year of his contract, general manager Bryan Colangelo said they had reached a settlement. "I'm a little disappointed," Williams said. "I still wanted to play for the Toronto Raptors and give it one more chance, a last chance.