TORONTO, Nov 8: Vince Carter scored 39 points and the Raptors gave the Warriors a lessen in rejection, blocking an NBA-record 24 shots, as Toronto beat Golden State 109-92 on Wednesday.

Hakeem Olajuwon led the block party with nine rejections and four other Raptors, including Carter, had three blocks each as Toronto broke its own league mark of 23 set last season against Atlanta.

“It was crazy on blocked shots tonight,” said Golden State coach and former NBA center Dave Cowens.

“Maybe some of the layups that we missed were so bad that they gave them a block. I don’t know, 24 blocks, that’s a lot of blocks.”

Carter, who also had 10 rebounds, scored 20 of his points in the third quarter, draining five 3-pointers in the session, when Toronto outscored the Warriors 35-21.

The Raptors made 10-of-21 shots from beyond the arc with Carter going 6-for-9 from 3-point range.

Toronto took control with a 15-3 run, turning a one-point deficit into a 70-59 lead midway through the third quarter.

Toronto’s Antonio Davis also had a double-double, collecting 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Morris Peterson contributed 21 points for the Raptors.

Rookies Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy led the Warriors with 16 and 14 points, respectively, and Danny Fortson pulled down 14 rebounds for Golden State.

In Boston, Michael Jordan had the best game of his comeback, scoring 32 points, but his team was outplayed down the stretch as the Washington Wizards fell to the Celtics 104-95.

The Wizards erased a 10-point deficit as Jordan drained a fadeaway jumper to forge an 89-89 tie with just under four minutes left.

But the Celtics played superior defense at crunch time, including Paul Pierce blocking a pair of Jordan shots, as Boston outscored Washington 15-6 the rest of the way.

Antoine Walker scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out nine assists to lead the Celtics.

Wednesday’s results: (home team in CAPS):

TORONTO 109 Golden State 92

NEW YORK 82 Cleveland 64

INDIANA 116 Sacramento 104

BOSTON 104 Washington 95

Detroit 97 CHICAGO 73

UTAH 96 Atlanta 89

LA CLIPPERS 108 Memphis 92

NHL results:

FLORIDA 2 Pittsburgh 0

NEW JERSEY 3 Atlanta 2

San Jose 2 DALLAS 2

Detroit 3 PHOENIX 1

Calgary 3 ANAHEIM 3.—Reuters