The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors played Game 3 of their eastern conference NBA playoffs series and the standings now has the Nets leading 2-1 after winning by the score of 102-98 heading into the next matchup and that will be at Barclays Center and during the game the Nets had a 15 point lead that the Raptors eventually cut down and DeMar DeRozan had his second straight impressive game for the Raptors.
Paul Pierce was on the foul line and he made two shots and after the team went up by four, the Raptors were able to get a tip in and they cut the lead to two with less than five seconds left in the game. Joe Johnson hit some free throws at the end of the game and that pushed the lead far enough and they were able to hold on for the win and now they are up 2-1 in the series and they can extend that lead on Sunday at Barclays in Game 4.
Andray Blatche got called for a foul after the Livingston free throw and the replay was questionable and then the Raptors were not able to cut the lead to after Patrick Patterson missed the two free throws and that gave the Nets the chance to keep things going. The Nets got a good call for them on a possession and they got to keep the ball after it was deflected out of bounds and that led to the Raptors to foul the Nets again and they had a two point lead in the game with 14 seconds left in the fourth.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors in the game with over 25 points for the second straight game and he had 30 points late in the game after having 14 points in game 1 and then he had 30 points in the crucial Game 2 before another impressive performance on Friday night and he has been one of the main reasons for their success. DeRozan was fouled and cut the lead to one after making the free throw and on the way back, Shaun Livingston was put on the line and Kyle Lowry fouled out of the game soon after Kevin Garnett did. Livingston made his first shot before missing the second and then another foul was called.
Joe Johnson had another good game for the Nets and he had 27 points to lead the team into the fourth quarter and Livingston was the leading rebounder, while Deron Williams was tops in assists. DeRozan led the Raptors in scoring, while Jonas Valanciunas was tops with 10 rebounds and Greivis Vasquez led in assists, but he had a crucial technical late in the game.
Check here for the standings and scores for the NBA playoffs.
