Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowry’s shot from the lane on the final play of the game as the Brooklyn Nets held off the Toronto Raptors 104-103 in Game 7 on Sunday to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
The Nets will begin the conference semi-finals in Miami this night to play two-time defending NBA champions the Heat.
Leading by one point, Brooklyn used their final timeout after failing to inbound the ball. On the second opportunity, Shaun Livingston tried a lob pass to Pierce, but Terrence Ross got a hand on the ball, then knocked it off Pierce and out of bounds for a turnover.
Toronto used a timeout and gave the ball to Lowry, whose driving shot was blocked by Pierce as time expired. Lowry lay prone on the floor as Nets players surged onto the court in celebration.
Joe Johnson scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Brooklyn, while Marcus Thornton scored 17 and Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the series, with Deron Williams scoring 13.
Amir Johnson fouled out with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto, who trailed by 10 points with just more than six minutes remaining before storming back and having a chance to win it at the buzzer.
Lowry finished with 28 points and DeMar DeRozan had 18 for the Raptors, who fell to 0-2 in franchise history when playing in a Game 7. Toronto lost Game 7 of the conference semi-finals to Philadelphia in 2001.
The Raptors, who won the Atlantic Division and set a franchise record with 48 wins, have not won a playoff series since 2001, losing in all three appearances.
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker scored 32 points as the Spurs led by as many as 31 on their way to routing the Dallas Mavericks and closing out a tense first-round series in seven games.
San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili scored 20 points, Danny Green added 16 points and Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points each in Game 7 of their series.
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Dallas.
The victory saw the Spurs advance to face the fifth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who beat the Houston Rockets in six games.
The Spurs’ previous season ended with a Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals against the Heat. Facing a much earlier end on Sunday, San Antonio absorbed the energy of a raucous home crowd to overwhelm Dallas in the deciding game.
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