A strange and unfamiliar scene unfolded here last night.

In what might be their final appearance in the unfriendly confines of the Charlotte Coliseum, the Toronto Raptors found a way to win a game.

A victory in itself isn't unusual, the surging Raptors have now won four in a row, six of seven and seven of 10; a victory here under trying conditions is a shock.

But when calm, cool, sore-ankled Alvin Williams drilled two game-winning free throws with six seconds left, the Raptors were on their way to a 91-89 victory that was their first in their last nine appearances here.

Included in that streak were some of the worst games in recent Raptors history, blowouts all, and one night when an irate coach Darrell Walker went nuts and tossed a table full of the post-game buffet.

That, as they say, was then. Whoever has come to possess the bodies of this collection of usually inconsistent Raptors wasn't going to let it happen again.