NEW YORK _ If there's one thing the Nets have proved in a recent stretch of tight games against some of the NBA's top teams, it's that they have no shortage of fighting spirit. What they have lacked is a knockout punch.
The Nets overcame a nine-point Toronto lead in the fourth quarter to force overtime and then held a one-point lead with 42.8 seconds left on a layup by Spencer Dinwiddie, who had a career-high 31 points. But DeMar DeRozan converted a three-point play with 26.1 seconds left, and the Raptors held on for a 114-113 victory when Dinwiddie's last-second layup attempt went over the backboard Monday night at Barclays Center. It was the team's 10th loss in a row to Toronto.
After engaging in hand-to-hand combat for the better part of three quarters, the Raptors got some separation with a 13-5 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that included a trio of 3s, the last by Fred VanVleet at the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter for an 85-74 lead.
But Dinwiddie scored seven points in an 11-6 run that cut the Nets' deficit to 91-85. The Raptors pushed their lead to nine, but the Nets suddenly found their 3-point touch, hitting four 3s, including two each by Quincy Acy and Dinwiddie in a 20-11 run that tied the game at 107 on an Allen Crabbe layup with 9.3 seconds left in regulation. DeRozan missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Raptors.
The Nets scored the first four points of the overtime session before taking their last lead on Dinwiddie's layup but couldn't get the stop they needed for the win. Dinwiddie added eight assists, and the Nets (15-25) also got 20 points from Allen Crabbe and 14 each from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who had 17 rebounds, and Jarrett Allen. Toronto (28-10) got 35 points from DeRozan. The Raptors also got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas and 18 points and 11 assists from Kyle Lowry.
In their previous meeting in December, the Nets trailed by as many as 40 points in a blowout loss in Toronto and simply were unable to control DeRozan. Although coach Kenny Atkinson called DeRozan "an All-Star player having a great year" before the game, he expressed hope the Nets' recently improved defense might hold up this time around.
"I think with DeRozan especially, even his mid-range (shots) were too open last time we played him," Atkinson said. "We have to do a better job getting a contest even on his mid-range shots. That's our goal. We're not giving a guy a free shot. We can do a better job there. We have some other things we can do to help with that because whatever we did last time did not work against them."
The opening five minutes of the game looked like the previous meeting as the Raptors made their first five shots and jumped out to a 13-1 lead against the Nets, who missed their first five shots. Clearly, the Raptors were intent on preventing the Nets from getting good looks at the 3-point line, and big men Serge Ibaka and Valanciunas also did a great job of protecting the rim.
Despite the slow start, the Nets stiffened on defense and gradually clawed their way back within five points near the end of the first quarter. In the second period, Crabbe heated up, making all three of his 3-point attempts, including one just before halftime to give the Nets their first lead at 44-43. But a DeRozan basket put the Raptors back in front by a point at the buzzer.
In the third quarter, the teams traded the lead six times before the Raptors put together a 16-7 run, including five Ibaka points, to got to the fourth quarter with a 78-71 cushion. But for the fifth straight game, the Nets were battling on defense to force a fight to the finish.
