While some of you may say that this is typical Vince Carter, doing his best work when it doesn’t count, I’d argue that this is a big improvement for the 35-year-old veteran.  After all, many of us have grown accustomed to seeing him hit the deck in a heap of pain following even the softest of fouls, rather than providing us with a highlight reel behind-the-back shot like this one.

Check it out.

The NBA journeyman who had been criticized many times for his lack of toughness and effort, was showing some toughness when he and Serge Ibaka engaged in a heated altercation during last night’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks.  It’s just too bad that Carter’s act of toughness came with half-a-dozen players and officials standing between him and the Thunder’s power forward.

Carter would also hit a late three-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining to put the Mavs up by one.  But he would eventually be outdone by Kevin Durant. whose buzzer-beating three-pointer would give the Thunder the 104-102 victory.

Here is a look at Carter and Ibaka’s altercation, as well as the wild ending to last night’s game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Off the top of my head, I’ve seen long range trick shots from Lebron, Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, and Dwight Howard this season.  Countless times, mostly Lebron, they’ve attempted unheard of shots from different area codes and makes have been caught on tap.

Add Vince Carter to that non-exhaustive list.  On Tuesday at Orlando’s practice facility, he saw Dwight Howard attempting trick shots from his butt, so he figured he would join in on the fun.  Little did Vince know is that he’d try an 85-foot shot from his butt and actually swish it, on camera.

Natural reaction after a shot like this is to question if it’s real, but you can tell from this video that it’s very, very real.  Vince’s reaction is shock (supplemented with the “I’m shocked I made it” victory lap).  Everything about this clip is Vincsanity.

Hat Tip Video – [SBNation]

The Magic hosted a hobbled New Orleans Hornets team last night and won in a shootout thanks to Carter’s 48 points.  The Magic were actually trailing by 17 in the 2nd half when Vince Carter really began to give his most inspired performance this year.  He scored 34 of his points in the second half.  On the night he shot a sizzling hot 19/27 and 6/10 from 3-point range.  He also added 7 rebounds and 2 assists for good measure.

Sure, the Hornets were lacking their star Chris Paul, and the Magic were playing at home, but regardless Vince’s outburst earned him “The Stat Line of the Night.”  Although maybe the whole team should get Stat Line of the last 11 games, considering they’ve won 9 of those and don’t look to be slowing down.

Vince nearly snagged a triple-double, scoring 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.  The most important stat is that he scored those 17 points on only 15 shots.  He has been extremely inefficient from the field this year, shooting just 38% and getting to the free throw stripe a lot less.  Although he didn’t go to the line that often last night, he was able to make almost half his shot, 2 of those for 3-pointers.  Not only is Carter coming around, but his entire Magic team seems to be coming around as well.  They have now won 7 of their last 8 and continue to rise in the East.

So what is the difference for Carter?  Why all of a sudden is he being more aggressive and feeling more comfortable?  Well some say it has to do with his old coach and mentor from New Jersey, Lawrence Frank.  He has been doing some very informal consulting with the Magic, and it seems to be helping Carter, at least for last night.

Whether it was Lawrence Frank’s help or not, Vince Carter earns “The Stat Line of the Night”.

When Ms. Lincoln, 23, isn’t showing off a chunk of wood from Honest Abe’s famous log cabin, she’s showing off her moves as a dancer for the New Jersey Nets.

She also works in a legal office, and is not afraid to boast about her famous ancestry.

“(Lincoln) was one of the greatest presidents in our history,” she said. “People still recognize that today. We have so much to be thankful for because of him.”

It’s awesome that she is related to former President Abraham Lincoln, I hope she doesn’t ruin her blood lines and get involved with pansy Vince Carter.

The 76ers were led by Andre Iguodalawho had 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist, but that wasn’t the story of the night.  6’6″ Iguodala made headlines last night for his alley-oop dunk over Rockets 7’6″ center Yao Ming.  This dunk has nothing on the high school Double Alley-Oop dunk from last week but still is amazing as Iguodala is a foot shorter then Yao.

Watch the Video Of the dunk here.

This is not the first time a player noticably shorter has dunked over a 7 foot monster.  Back in the Olympics a few years ago Vince Carter dunked over Team France’s center.

If you enjoyed these two clips you may want to check out Brandoy Roy’s dunk in an article we wrote earlier this week titled, “Brandon Roy Owns You”.