Toronto's Jermaine O'Neil reacts after landing awkwardly during the Raptors' 129-127 overtime loss to the New Jersey Nets on Friday. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Vince Carter cemented his status as public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Toronto basketball fans Friday night.

The former Raptor poured in 39 points, including the game-winning basket with 1.9 seconds left in overtime, to lead the visiting New Jersey Nets to a come-from-behind 129-127 win over Toronto.

The loss may be the least of Toronto's problems, though.

The Raptors had their hearts in their mouths early in the fourth quarter when Jermaine O'Neal crashed to the floor and clutched his left knee after being pulled down under the basket on a flagrant foul by New Jersey's Sean Williams.

O'Neal, who missed 40 games last season because of a lingering knee injury, writhed in pain for several minutes before gingerly walking off the court. He came back briefly before leaving the game for good with a sprained knee.

O'Neal headed to the hospital for testing after the game.

O'Neal entered Friday's game riding an amazing streak, having recorded five consecutive double-doubles, including pouring in 16 points and pulling down a game-best 17 rebounds in Toronto's victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

O'Neal finished with seven points and seven rebounds against New Jersey.

Ex-Raptor forces overtime

Carter, vociferously jeered by the Toronto crowd every time he touched the ball, drained a three-pointer with less than one second left in regulation to force overtime, and then scored the winning basket on a reverse jam in the extra frame after being left all alone in the key.

"I know, deep down, that's just sports and that's the way it goes," Carter said of the booing. "I root for my team and I'm a terrible fan, also."

"You feel so good for Vince when you have the crowd like that, and all the times we've been up here, for him to hit the three to put it into overtime and for him to get the [game-winning] dunk," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

Devin Harris added 30 points for the Nets.

Carter's brilliant display overshadowed the efforts of Toronto's "Big Three."

Chris Bosh scored 42 points for Toronto, while teammate Andrea Bargnani posted a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. Jose Calderon also chipped in with 26 points and 15 assists.

"I don't even know what to say, I'm so upset about the game. It's unbelievable," said Bargnani. "We were winning, we had the game under control, we made a couple of stupid mistakes."

Bosh and Bargnani combined for 31 points through the first 24 minutes to give the Raptors a commanding 67-41 lead at halftime.

Toronto built up what seemed to be an insurmountable 18-point advantage in the third quarter, but the Nets, led by Carter and Harris, battled back and trailed by nine going into the fourth.

With O'Neal gone, New Jersey tied the game with 6:18 left in regulation, but Bosh drove to the basket two minutes later and completed the three-point play from the foul line to give Toronto a 96-93 lead.

After Carter sent the game to overtime with his three-pointer, the teams traded buckets in a thrill-a-minute overtime period

The Raptors trailed by four points when Bosh hit a three-pointer with six seconds left to make it a one-point Nets lead. Then Anthony Parker sank a three with 2.9 seconds on the clock to tie the contest, and a second overtime seemed inevitable.

But Carter gave the Raptors the slip and found himself all alone under the basket, where he took an inbound pass from Bobby Simmons and scored on an alley-oop dunk with 1.9 seconds left to give the Nets the win.

"He's one of the best athletes in the game," Bosh said. "Lawrence Frank drew up a fantastic play and he left it up to his best player and he capitalized.

"You live and you learn, we'd be crazy not to learn from this experience, and that's all I can say right now, that's the kind of night this has been."

Raptors coach Sam Mitchell urged his players to put the loss behind them ahead of Sunday's home game against the NBA champion Boston Celtics (CBC, 12:30 p.m. ET).

"The thing we can't do is dwell on it, everybody's feeling sick about it, but you've got to put it behind us as fast as you can," Mitchell said. "We had a lot of guys play great, it just seemed whoever got the ball last was going to win it, they got it last."