Somehow, Air Canada disappeared into thin air amid the raucous backdrop of his NBA playoff debut.

If Vince Carter wasn't so mature, he'd probably choose to forget everything that happened during his 3-for-20 shooting afternoon, which was simply too much for his upstart Toronto Raptors to overcome in a hotly contested 92-88 loss to the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks.

But Carter -- who missed his first 12 shots -- is smarter than that. He wants to remember it all. Because only then will he learn how to make sure it doesn't happen again in Wednesday's Game 2.

"I just need to step it up, concentrate and relax," Carter said. "I was (too) excited. Every shot I took, I wanted to go in so bad that I really wasn't following through. Just things I know now, I wish I would have known before the game. Of course you have to experience it to know it. I'll be ready for Game 2."

So those unfair Michael Jordan comparisons can wait awhile.

The Raptors didn't even need Carter to be M.J. to pull this one out. As the action grew fierce in the final few minutes, all Toronto needed was for Carter to be the same blossoming All-Star he had been all season.

But there were only two glimpses of that guy the entire afternoon.

The first came early in the fourth quarter, when he canned back to back 17-foot jump shots to get the Raptors within three at 71-68. Almost unbelievably, they were Carter's first two field goals of the day.

His only other signature moment was when he coolly looked at his feet to make sure they were behind the line and then buried a 3-pointer to tie it at 81 with 2:22 left.

For the rest of the day, he was just another rattled 23-year-old coming undone in a stage he had never experienced.

As for some of the lowlights, it was hard to forget his unofficial count of two airballs. Or his errant pass that landed in the stands and came far closer to hitting the popcorn vender than it did another Raptor.

Then there was the time he emphatically punched the ball into the ground after being fouled with five minutes left in the first half, an instance in which he was lucky not to draw a technical.

Maybe the worst was when Carter was torn down by Latrell Sprewell on a flagrant foul that gave the Raptors -- down 88-85 with 39.9 seconds -- a gift: two shots and the ball.

With the Garden roaring at its most deafening pitch, Carter shanked the first free throw. He made the second, but the Raptors would then miss four shots on the ensuing possession, most painfully a Carter layup.

The same Carter who had ravaged these same Knicks all season was silenced when it mattered. The Slam Dunk king didn't rattle the rim once on Easter. Not that this was simply Carter's nerves or ineptitude.

Fact is, Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy came up with some clever defenses which were executed to perfection by a collection of veterans, most notably Sprewell.

"Jeff brought two defensive schemes that we haven't seen in a while to slow Vince, and both were successful," said Raptors coach Butch Carter. "The young guy was disappointed in himself with the start. We just tried to coax him along and play him shorter minutes after that and create a mismatch where someone besides Sprewell was on him.

"He was a little mentally fatigued today trying to figure out which way they were going to come at him. Today was a great experience for all of us."

And it seemed nobody benefited faster than Tracy McGrady, the Scottie Pippen clone who is 20 years old and plays as if he's 29.

Vince Carter has plenty to ponder after missing his first 12 shots from the field Sunday.(AP)

Sure McGrady got off slow, missing eight of 10 shots in the first quarter.

"I was a little overexcited, trying to do too much," McGrady said. "Unfortunately me and Vince were caught up in the hype of it being our first playoff game."

But unlike Carter, McGrady -- called T-Mac by his teammates -- quickly gathered himself.

For it was McGrady, along with veterans Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis, who carried the Raptors back and made it a game.

In fact, McGrady led all scorers with 25 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds, second only to 11 by Willis.

Under the circumstances, Carter did what was best for everyone.

"I told (Tracy), 'Carry us,'" said Carter. "And he got us going."

But on a day the Knicks would never trail, McGrady's heroics weren't quite enough.

Not when ageless warrior Patrick Ewing celebrated his first healthy playoff game in three springs by canning a couple of big shots down the stretch. Not when Larry Johnson, perhaps the Knicks' best big-game player, snapped an 85-85 tie on a huge 3-pointer with 42.8 seconds left.

And certainly not when Sprewell and Allan Houston, the two most important Knicks, played in tandem eerily similar to the way they did in last year's playoffs, combining for 42 points.

"Spree and Allan's intensity level was where it was supposed to be considering their experience," said Butch Carter. "They came out in the first quarter like every possession they had was their last. Like they were playing Game 7. It's really hard to duplicate that."

Then again, when Vince Carter is on his game, it's impossible to duplicate that.

"Wherever Vince goes," said Oakley, "we are going with him."

And never was that more obvious than Sunday.