Photos| Box Score Highlights | Plenty to Learn From Quotes | Notes Jason Kidd Points: 8 RBs: 10 Assists: 15 ``Hopefully this game, you learn from it,'' said Ford. The Nets outscored the Raptors in the paint 46-22. Team RB ST BLK TOT TOR 42 6 3 51 NJN 46 8 7 61

April 21, 2007

TORONTO (CP) -- Richard Jefferson poured in 28 points to lead the New Jersey Nets 96-91 over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday in the opening game of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.

Chris Bosh finished with 22 points in his post-season debut, sitting much of the first half in foul trouble in an ominous beginning for Toronto.

T.J. Ford added 21 points for the Raptors, who were making their first playoff appearance in five seasons. Anthony Parker had 16 points, while Jose Calderon chipped in with 13. Rasho Nesterovic grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Jason Kidd had 15 assists and 10 rebounds to go with eight points for the Nets, while former Raptor Vince Carter finished with 16 points, nine in them in the fourth quarter.

The Raptors struggled offensively for most of the afternoon, and looked flustered in the face of the Nets' hard-nosed defence. New Jersey led by as much as 15 and had a 78-65 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

As they've done all season, the Raptors cranked it up in the fourth, cutting the Nets' lead to just a point with five minutes to go on a three-pointer by Calderon. But they committed some costly errors down the stretch. A three-pointer by Parker with 13 seconds left made it a three-point Nets' advantage, but a free throw by Carter stretched it to four points as the Nets went on to claim the victory.

The Nets beat the Raptors across the board, shooting 42 per cent to Toronto's 41, and outrebounding Toronto 46-42. The Nets dominated inside, outscoring the Raptors 46-22 in the paint.

The Raptors did a decent job of containing Carter, who shot just 5-for-19 on the afternoon, but Jefferson and Co., filled in. Jefferson connecting on 11 of 21 shots from the field.

Coming off the most successful regular-season in Raptors history, and after five years with no post-season action, the atmosphere in the Air Canada Centre was electric, aided by the presence of Raptors' nemesis Carter.

In what's been billed as the Raptors versus Vince, the capacity crowd of 19,800 broke into spontaneous chants of ``V-C Sucks!'' Anti-Carter signs also dotted the arena, one reading: ``Vince: Half-Man. 'Nuff Said.'' Security personnel kept proceedings fairly civil though, confiscating the more nasty signs and T-shirts aimed at Carter.

The crowd was a sea of red thanks to a T-shirt giveaway as part of the ``Go Red, Go Raptors'' campaign. The Raptors marketing department obviously didn't bank on the Nets going with their red road jerseys rather than their traditional blue.

The revamped Raptors earned both homecourt advantage and the Atlantic Division title for the first time in franchise history, and their 47 wins tied a franchise high set in 2000-01,

The two teams split their season series 2-2, each winning their home games.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre, and then the series heads to New Jersey for Games 3 and 4.

The Raptors and Nets paced each other through the opening quarter, a layup by Jefferson putting New Jersey up by five with just under two minutes to go. Four free throws from Ford cut the Nets' lead to 23-22 heading into the second.

With Bosh on the bench with two fouls, the Nets went opened the second quarter with a 19-9 run to open up an 11-point lead on Toronto. The Raptors replied with a run of their own, a three by Juan Dixon cutting the Nets' advantage to 44-41. But Toronto couldn't score in the final 3:18 of the half and New Jersey led 51-41 at the break.

The Raptors opened the third with a 9-0 run to cut the Nets' lead to a point. But Toronto couldn't seem to shoot from that point on, New Jersey stretching its lead back to 15 and leading 78-65 with one quarter left.

Notes: NBA legends Bill Russell and Darryl Dawkins were at the game ... In their last post-season appearance in 2002, the Raptors were ousted in the Game 5 of the opening round by the Detroit Pistons ... The Nets made it to the Eastern Conference semifinal last season, losing in five games to eventual NBA champion Miami.