Vince Carter scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half as the Toronto Raptors recovered from their lowest scoring first half in franchise history and beat the Washington Wizards 82-79 Friday night.

Toronto Raptors' Vince Carter celebrates their 82-79 win over the Washington Wizards in Toronto, Friday, October 31, 2003. [AP]

Jerome Williams added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Antonio Davis had 15 rebounds as the Raptors improved to 2-0 under new coach Kevin O'Neill.

The Raptors scored a record-low 27 points in the first half, but Carter had 12 points in the third quarter and made all six of his free throw attempts in the final five minutes.

Toronto's previous low for points in the first half was 28 against Utah on Nov. 17, 2002.

The Raptors rallied from a 13-point deficit in the season opener against New Jersey on Wednesday night, and from a 12-point deficit against Washington.

Kwame Brown had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who were outrebounded 49-37.

Williams had six points, and Carter made two 3-pointers as the Raptors began the second half on a 10-2 run, tying the game at 39.

With Carter on the bench, the Raptors turned a seven-point deficit into a three-point lead with a 14-4 run to start the fourth.

Carter returned with 4:29 left and scored four of Toronto's next six points, but Brown made a layup to cut the lead to one with 1:20 left.

After Washington's Gilbert Arenas missed an off-balance jumper, Etan Thomas grabbed the rebound and scored to give the Wizards a 79-78 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

With four Wizards collapsing on Carter, he passed to rookie Chris Bosh, whose layup gave Toronto the lead for good with 34 seconds left.

After Arenas missed a running jumper, Davis grabbed the rebound. Carter made two free throws to give Toronto an 82-79 lead with 18.5 seconds remaining.

Washington's Jarvis Hayes missed a jumper with 12 seconds left, and the Wizards couldn't foul anybody in the final seconds.

Notes:@ Kansas City Chiefs (news) kick returner Dante Hall sat courtside. Hall, who has returned four kicks for touchdowns, blew past the Raptors mascot during a timeout. ... Attendance was just 14,183. ... O'Neill said Bosh is more suited right now to make jump shots than work inside. Bosh, the No. 4 pick in this year's draft, was pushed around by New Jersey's big men on Wednesday, but he made a clutch jumper. O'Neill said he'll eventually be an excellent post player. ... Arenas had 16 points and seven assists.

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