WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Vince Carter, Vinsanity, Half Man Half Amazing.
They all showed up -- in Carter's body, of course -- at the Verizon Center on Tuesday night. That's when Carter took a stroll down memory lane and hammered home one amazing dunk after another during the Dallas Mavericks' 103-94 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Known as one of the best dunksters in NBA history, Carter opened the game with a flying dunk, and added another thundering dunk shortly thereafter.
Later, Carter, who turns 36 on Jan. 26, finished off the Wizards with a hammer dunk.
"He shows flashes of those things more frequently than you might think,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "The play that opened the game was a key play for us because it kind of woke our whole team up, and I thought it got us going in the right direction.
"The play at the end of the game was pivotal because it kind of sealed the game and he opened up and he said to me coming off the court during the timeout, he goes, 'I bet you didn't think I could do that?'
"I said, "I think you could do it.' He said, 'Once in a while, right?' I said, 'Once in a while, yeah.' ''
Carter wound up scoring a game-high 23 points while converting 9-of-14 shots. And he also wound up dazzling the New Year's Day crowd at the Verizon Center.
"He still has tremendous athleticism, even though he's an older guy,'' Carlisle said. "He's taken care of himself and he's worked extremely hard, especially this year.
"And he's a real important guy for us.''
-- Dwain Price
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