Raptors Hold On To Beat Nets At A.C.C.
Posted May 1, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Toronto Raptors may be down, but they’re far from out after narrowly holding on to take Game 5, 98-96, against Vince Carter’s New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.
The Raptors built a considerable lead in the early going, but the determined Nets slowly chipped away until the game was ultimately on the line in the dying seconds.
Chris Bosh only managed to drain one of two free-throws in the dying seconds, giving the Nets, who trailed by two points, one last chance. Vince Carter drove to the net, but couldn’t find an opening and decided to pawn the ball off to Bostjan Nachbar, who missed what would have been the winner from three-point range.
When the buzzer finally sounded, the loyal throngs at the Air Canada Centre let out a collective sigh of relief, content that their team had survived a frightening brush with elimination.
Jose Calderon scored 25 points as the Raptors forced a sixth game in their Eastern Conference quarter-final series. The Nets lead the series 3-2.
Raptors rookie Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker scored 18 points each and Morris Peterson finished with 17.
The Nets once again did a good job covering Chris Bosh, who managed just 11 points in 25 minutes of play after running into foul trouble.
Former Raptor Vince Carter scored a game-high 30 points while Richard Jefferson added 23 for the losing side.
T.J. Ford was forced to leave the game after Carter fell on top of top of him during a mad scramble for the ball. The Raptors guard suffered what team officials said was a “stinger” — a back injury that causes tingling in the arms.
The series now heads back to New Jersey for Game 6 on Friday.
