Jose Calderon scored a career-high 25 points and Andrea Bargnani added 18 as the Toronto Raptors rebounded from two double-digit losses to stave off elimination and beat the New Jersey Nets 98-96 on Tuesday.
Game 6 is the first-round series is tomorrow night in New Jersey.
The Raptors led by as many as 17 points in the second half but the Nets got within one in the final minute when Calderon rolled his ankle and lost the ball to Jason Kidd. Vince Carter then hit a 3-pointer to make it 95-94 with 27.6 seconds remaining.
Two free throws by Toronto's Chris Bosh and a putback from Mikki Moore of the Nets made it 97-96. Bosh was fouled again but made just one of two, giving the Nets a chance to tie or go for the win. Carter drove to the basket but Juan Dixon's defense forced him to give up the ball and Bostjan Nachbar's 3-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.
Anthony Parker scored 18 points and Morris Peterson added 17 for Toronto.
Carter scored 30 points for the Nets, who also got 23 points from Richard Jefferson and 11 points and 10 assists from Kidd.
Toronto guard T.J. Ford left the game shortly after colliding with Carter with less than 30 seconds to play in the first quarter. Ford, who suffered what team officials called a "stinger," was taken to a hospital for tests. He returned to the arena and was sitting on the bench late in the fourth quarter.
Mavericks 118, Warriors 112
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki came alive with consecutive 3-pointers to start a game-ending 15-0 run that carried Dallas past the Golden State.
That guaranteed the NBA's best regular-season team at least one more game in the playoffs.
Golden State leads playoff series 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for today at Oakland, California.
The Mavericks let a 21-point lead turn into a nine-point deficit in the closing minutes, as Golden State went ahead 112-103 on a lunging 3-pointer by Baron Davis with 3:19 left that looked to be the knockout punch for one of the most stunning upsets in NBA history.
Yet that's when Nowitzki picked Dallas up off the mat, the way the league's likely MVP is supposed to do -- but something he'd yet to do all series.
Nowitzki scored 12 points the rest of the way, hitting the two 3s and went 6-of-7 from the foul line. The Warriors helped the collapse by missing their final eight shots.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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