Vince Carter's encounter with Marcus Camby in the closing seconds of Game 1 was perhaps the most telling moment of his afternoon. Camby, in a late post-block celebration, aggressively -- and accidentally -- shoved Carter. As the two exchanged glares, you expected Carter to let out the frustrations of his disappointing 13-point performance with a shove, or at least a few words in response. Carter's reaction: he dropped his stare with Camby and walked meekly away.

Absent at a key moment -- that pretty much sums up Carter's game in the Raptors 92-85 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He went scoreless in the last 8:30.

Vince Carter can not afford to be soft anymore. Clearly one of the NBA's top talents, Carter runs the risk of losing his status as one of the best players in the game if he remains grounded for the duration of the opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Knicks. Just check his numbers: with the exception of a launched-from-just-inside-the-foul-line dunk just before the half (which alone probably would have won this year's slam-dunk contest), Carter was erratic, hitting just five of 22 shots. In four career playoff games against the Knicks (including New York's three-game sweep of the Raptors last season), Carter has hit only 20 of 72 shots (27.7 percent). Despite the fact the Knicks have double- and triple-teamed Carter, it's not the kind of performance you expect from a guy who has relished taking big shots over the past two seasons.

After the game, VC, immaculately dressed in a gold suit, was on edge -- and deflecting blame. "I prefer the team get the credit when we win, and the team get the blame when we lose." Carter said. "It's not about me." But it is about Carter -- if he wasn't so dominant in Toronto's offense, perhaps Tracy McGrady would still be his sidekick instead of performing his magic in Orlando.

The flaw in Carter's game: while he's often fantastic in attacking the rim, he's not great at creating his own shot. So where Kobe Bryant and McGrady are successful in breaking down defenders and splitting double-teams to get to the basket, Carter often gets caught in the air -- resulting at times in poor shots, or errant passes.

Give Vince credit yesterday. At times, he did a good job passing out of the double-teams, but his teammates were unable to hit their shots. Even if Carter does break out of his playoff slump in Game 2 on Thursday, the Raptors won't be able to stretch this series if he's forced to carry the offensive load alone. The constant double-teams means there's an open shooter, and the Raptors have to take advantage of their open looks -- something that did not happen Sunday.

As Vince left the cramped visitors' locker room yesterday, his mother was in the hallway waiting outside. He gave her a hug, and whispered "there'd be days like this." For Carter, those days in the playoffs have become too common.

Jerry Bembry covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jerry.bembry@espnmag.com.