Raps On The Brink Of Elimination After Nets Dominate Game 4

There have been plenty of lows in the Toronto Raptors’ 12-year history, but what happened Sunday night in New Jersey certainly ranks among the lowest.

Down 2-1 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series, the Raps took the floor in New Jersey Sunday night looking for a strong effort that would pull them even at two games apiece and send them back to Toronto on a high note.

What they got was shellacked, and a final score of 102-81 doesn’t do justice to just how lopsided the contest really was. The fact that it was the second biggest margin in any New Jersey playoff game, however, gets to the heart of the matter a little better.

From as early as the first two minutes the game seemed out of reach for a Toronto team that seemed out of sorts. Starting rookie Andrea Bargnani didn’t seem to make any difference either, as former Raptor Vince Carter was in all-star form, hitting seemingly every shot he attempted in the early stages and ending up with a game-high 27 points.

Richard Jefferson followed with 23 of his own and the Nets now boast a 3-1 lead over the Atlantic Division champions. They can put the final nail in the coffin Tuesday night, when the action resumes at the Air Canada Centre.

Should they fail to do that New Jersey would then have a chance to close things out at home in Game 6, and if Toronto can force a Game 7 — something they must do to win the series — the deciding game would be back in Toronto .

But it doesn’t seem like NBA Coach of the Year Sam Mitchell’s team really has that much left in the tank, and Nets point guard Jason Kidd appears to have his troops marching in step. The future Hall of Famer put together a rock solid performance again Sunday, totaling 17 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.

“It was just a bad night for us,” Mitchell said, in what could be the NBA understatement of the year.

“We didn’t execute well, again.”

One statistic worth noting is that teams taking 3-1 leads in series have won 158 and lost only eight. Another is that Toronto l ed for a total of 15 seconds during their two brutal games at the Meadowlands.

Adding insult to injury, Toronto ‘s also lost eight straight road playoff games since beating Philadelphia on May 6, 2001 , in Game 1 of Eastern Conference semifinals.

Elsewhere in NBA playoff action Sunday:

• The Chicago Bulls eliminated defending NBA champions the Miami Heat 4-0 with a 92-79 win.
• Two-time MVP Steve Nash dished a record-tying 23 assists as the Phoenix Suns took a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Lakers 113-100.