CBC SPORTS ONLINE - Vince Carter may have graduated from his morning convocation, but he won't be graduating into the third round of the NBA playoffs.

Carter and the Toronto Raptors came within one shot of pulling off the biggest upset of the second round but dropped a heartbreaking 88-87 Game 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers in their Eastern Conference semifinal Sunday in Philadelphia.

With two seconds left to play, Carter came off a Charles Oakley screen and caught an inbound pass from Dell Curry.

Carter's shot fake got Sixers' forward Tyrone Hill off his feet and a clear look at the basket, but his attempt bounced off the back rim and the buzzer went to end the game.

"I had the opportunity and it just didn't fall," Carter said.

"All I can think about is that shot. It's something you live for. Maybe next year."

Carter, who graduated earlier in the day from the University of North Carolina and then flew on a private plane to Philadelphia, finished with 20 points and nine assists.

Antonio Davis, playing with an injured left tricep, led the Raptors with 23 points and nine rebounds. Oakley and Chris Childs chipped in with 11 points a piece. Oakley also grabbed 10 boards.

Allen Iverson, the NBA's most valuable player, may not have had a 50-point performance as he had on two occasions during the series, but he was still effective nonetheless.

"The Answer," as he's dubbed for his ability to take over games, finished with 21 points and a career-high 16 assists.

"I wanted to do something special, but the way you draw it up -- if you're a scorer -- is having a great scoring night. In a million years I'd never believe I'd come out and have a career high in assists," said Iverson.

"I feel so good about this win because I really, really know inside and believe that I have a team, for the first time in my life, that I feel we can win a championship with."

While Iverson was busy dodging Toronto's attempts to double team him, Philadelphia's role players got the job done.

Aaron McKie, who won the league's six-man award, led the Sixers with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Jumaine Jones had 16 points and Eric Snow helped out with 13 points and five assists.

Dikembe Mutombo, who guaranteed his team would win the decisive Game 7, grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 10 points.

"Spacing was important," McKie said. "Anytime teams double Allen, it is very important to have our spacing. You can't have two guys standing next to each other. If we spread teams out, we can be pretty effective."

"I've got four other guys on the court with me that I hurt with, laugh with, and that's what it's all about. You can't get into a Game 7, with the guys who were with you all season, and forget about them because you think it's all about you," said Iverson.

Philadelphia will host the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night at First Union Center. The Bucks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 104-95 in their decisive Game 7.

"I don't think anyone in here needs to hang their heads," said Curry, whose team won the last two games of the first round to upset the New York Knicks and took Game Six on Friday to stave off elimination.

Curry, the team's veteran guard, pulled the Raptors to 88-87 with his transition three-pointer with 54 seconds left.

At the other end, Iverson missed a jumper, but Hill grabbed the offensive rebound and the Sixers ran the clock down to 10 seconds before Iverson passed to Snow for another missed jump shot.

The Raptors got the rebound but didn't call a time-out until there was 3.6 seconds remaining, and the Sixers had a foul to give and used it -- running the clock down to 2.0 seconds. But unfortunately for the up-start Raptors, Carter couldn't capitalize on the final shot.

It was a disappointing loss for the Raptors, who battled from behind all evening only to finish short in their first Game 7 -- and the first conference semifinal appearance -- in franchise history.

"If we had stayed focused throughout the series, we would have won," said Toronto's Childs.

Toronto struggled early in the game, shooting poorly from the perimeter and not going inside, where they had success in Game 6. Seven turnovers in the first half did not help either.

Philadelphia built a nine-point lead in the first quarter during a 4:55 span behind a 17-6 run.

But the Raptors got their act together with an 8-0 run to start the second quarter, getting key buckets off the bench from Childs and Curry.

The Sixers retaliated with a run of their own, led by McKie, Snow and Jones to build a nine-point lead with less than six minutes remaining in the quarter.

After half-time, it was a much different Toronto team out of the locker room. The Raptors went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to start the third and momentum continued to go their way.

With 2:30 left in third, Carter's lay-up and subsequent free-throw finished off a three-point play that gave the Raptors a 65-64 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game.

Though Philly didn't have a field-goal through the final six minutes of the third, the Sixers found themselves in a bonus situation and scored four points on free-throws to make it 69-65.

The Sixers finished with 32 free-throw attempts to Toronto's 17.

Carter drew criticism for going to his graduation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on the day of the most important game of his career. But he travelled by private jet and did not seem affected by the trip.

"I survived, I was there, I played, did what I needed to do," Carter said. "It all came down to one shot.

"It could've been a great day or a terrible day. I don't let what people say, I don't let people's opinions hold me down. I don't let it bother me."

"It's a game, you make shots and you miss shots," said Carter's mother, Michelle. "He missed it.

"People who want to blame a graduation on losing a game, that's a scapegoat. Graduations don't win or lose games. Shooting, rebounding, turning over the ball at the wrong time -- that will lose a game for you."