LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Vince Carter tried, but four superstars against one just isn't fair.
Carter's 23 points weren't anywhere near enough to overcome the overall brilliance of the Los Angeles Lakers, who rode their "Fantastic Four" to a 94-79 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
After two injury-plagued seasons, Carter has regained the form that made him one of the NBA's best players. He came in second in the league in scoring, averaging 26.3 points per game and carrying Toronto's often anemic offense, which has yet to break 90 this season.
The other four starters of the Raptors managed 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting, committing 10 turnovers. Toronto shot less than 35 percent (24-of-69).
"We have some guys who are struggling," Carter said. "When they come around, we'll be a very capable team."
Carter found himself up against Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton, all of whom scored at least 16 points.
"We did a good job on Vince making him take tough shots," Payton said. "We got a little complacent at times once we got Vince covered well."
"When we play like we did tonight, we're capable of doing just about anything and we'll be a good team to watch," said Malone, who tweaked his hamstring in the second half.
O'Neal was dominant with 23 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.
"Forty acres and a mule," Raptors forward Jerome Williams said. "That's the only way you're going to get by that guy. Three hundred pounds is something that you just can't teach."
Bryant scored 19 points, Malone added 17 and Payton 16 for the Lakers, who snapped a two-game slide and improved to 12-3 all-time against the Raptors.
"You've got four guys there who could be go-to guys on any given squad," Williams said.
"They can deserve all the respect in the world, but if you back down from them, they'll blow you out of the gym," Carter said.
O'Neal had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the first half as Los Angeles built a 53-43 lead. Toronto got no closer than nine points in the second half, when it trailed by as many as 20.
Morris Peterson scored 16 points, Lamond Murray added 15 and rookie Chris Bosh added 10 - all off the bench - for the Raptors, who are 0-2 on a three-game trip that concludes Friday at Sacramento.
