Raptors nixed by Nets in playoff opener

Vinsanity returned to the Air Canada Centre, but with a twist, as Vince Carter and the New Jersey Nets outwitted the hometown Toronto Raptors in Saturday's playoff opener.

Carter scored 16 points in a 96-91 victory over the Raptors in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final before a raucous crowd of 20,330.

"It is the playoffs now," Carter said. "All that other stuff is gone."

Toronto trailed by as much as 15 points late in the third quarter before storming back in the fourth to trim it to 84-83 with two minutes remaining.

But Bostjan Nachbar netted four points on a three-point basket and a free throw, and Carter scored four consecutive points on free throws and a finger roll to make it 92-85.

Toronto's Chris Bosh completed a three-point play to keep it close heading into the final minute, and Anthony Parker provided a ray of hope for the Raptors with a trey that made it 94-91 with less than 12 seconds left.

But Carter and teammate Jason Kidd completed the scoring on free throws to halt Toronto's comeback bid.

"We showed good poise," Nets head coach Lawrence Frank said.

"We had opportunities," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "We just made mistakes at the wrong time."

With the Raptors facing Carter, Toronto basketball's favourite villain, this series promises to be one of the most compelling in the first round and Game 1 did not disappoint.

Carter, the NBA's player of the month, was booed every time he touched the ball and shot a dismal 5-of-19 from the floor, but made a couple of key shots down the stretch.

The eight-time all-star entered the series averaging a whopping 27.2 points in 30 playoff starts.

"Whatever. That is the way it is," Carter said. "It is more about winning a playoff game being the motivation."

Carter, the most gifted player in Raptors history, was instrumental in them reaching the playoffs for the first time in 2002, but he later soured on Toronto and insulted fans there by playing with indifference after demanding to be traded.

Carter was dealt to New Jersey for Alonzo Mourning, Aaron Williams, Eric Williams and two first-round draft picks on Dec. 17, 2004, but is jeered every time he returns to Toronto.

"I didn't come here to worry about the crowd and the response," Carter said. "I came here to win a basketball game.

"You know it is coming and expect it. It's three years later get over it."

Jefferson scores 28 points

Richard Jefferson led all scorers with 28 points for the Nets (41-41), who secured the sixth seed by winning 10 of their last 13 games.

"Richard is a very talented guy," Nets head coach Lawrence Frank said. "He had a good rhythm to his game."

Kidd had 15 assists and 10 rebounds to go with seven points, while Nachbar contributed 16 points coming off the bench.

"He was pushing the ball," Jefferson said of Kidd. "I was just running and I was the recipient of a lot of his passes."

Bosh counted 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the third-ranked Raptors (47-35), who matched the franchise record for wins in capturing their first Atlantic Division title.

"I don't think we played our best basketball today," Bosh said. "They were definitely more poised than we were."

T.J. Ford scored 21 points for Toronto followed by Parker with 16.

Jose Calderon had 13 points and a team-high eight assists in a losing cause.

Toronto's roster is thin on post-season experience, with Rasho Nesterovic leading the pack with 57 playoff appearances.

Seldom-used Darrick Martin has played 23 playoff games, Morris Peterson 14, Juan Dixon 11, and Ford, six.

"There is nothing I'm going to say that is, all of a sudden, going to give our guys 200 more games of playoff experience," Mitchell said. "You've got to go play."

First-year forward Jorge Garbajosa received a standing ovation as he joined the Raptors at the bench for the first time since suffering a gruesome, season-ending left ankle injury with 4:31 remaining in a 95-87 loss to the Boston Celtics on March 26.

Ford drives Raptors early

Toronto started slowly, preferring to shoot from the perimeter until Ford began engineering the offence, scoring 14 points as the Raptors trailed 23-22 through one quarter.

Carter had two points on 1-for-7 shooting before hitting his first two shots of the second quarter that, combined with a pair of driving layups from rookie Marcus Williams, put the Nets ahead 37-29 with 8:20 left.

The Raptors trimmed it to 44-41 with three minutes remaining to intermission, but missed three straight shots and allowed the Nets to take a 51-41 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Jeffersonscored 17 pointsby the break and Kidd had doled out 11 assists.

"They came out a lot more calm," Bosh said. "The things we didn't do well, they took advantage of."

Bosh scored four straight points as Toronto opened the second half with a 8-0 burst that cut the deficit to 51-50.

Adding to New Jersey's misery was Carter's fourth foul to that point, forcing him to take a seat on the bench less than three minutes into the third quarter.

But Jefferson responded by scoring eight points in a 14-3 run that made it 65-54 with 6:07 left in the quarter.

Kidd later drained a three-pointer to make it 72-58 with 2:23 to go.

A jumpshot from Williams pushed New Jersey's advantage to 15 points before Bosh closed the quarter with a pair of free throws to make it 78-65 heading into the fourth.

But the Raptors refused to fold as Calderon scored on a trey, Kris Humphries slammed down a running dunk and Bosh hit a short jumper to slice it to 81-77 with 5:55 left.

After Carter made two free throws, Calderon replied with a three-pointer and a driving layup to close the gap to one point at 83-82 with 3:49 to go.

After Jefferson and Bosh swapped free throws, Nachbar scored from beyond the arc to make it 87-83 with two minutes remaining.

"Toronto answered every run we had," Frank said. "We were just fortunate to make some key plays."

Game 2 goes Tuesday at the ACC (7:00 p.m. ET).