Photos| Box Score Highlights Quotes | Notes Jose Calderon Points: 25 RBs: 8 FG:12-20 ``This is the playoffs, this is very exciting, this is a series we want to win, and for the crowd to be chanting my name, our name and pulling for us is very big,'' Peterson. The Raptors outscored the Nets 33-13 in the first quarter Team RB ST BLK TOT TOR 36 3 6 45 NJN 36 5 3 44

May 1, 2007

(TORONTO, CP) -- Jose Calderon scored a career-high 25 points as the Raptors rode the hometown crowd to a thrilling 98-96 Game 5 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday, forcing a sixth game in their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.

The victory, which looked like a Raptors romp but turned into a nailbiter in a frenzied fourth quarter, cut the Nets' best-of-seven series lead to 3-2.

``It took everything and it took everybody. They didn't go away quietly,'' said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell.

The series goes back to New Jersey for Game 6 on Friday.

With starting point guard T.J. Ford sidelined for the final three quarters with a back injury, and Chris Bosh having a mediocre night, Raptors rookie Andrea Bargnani and Morris Peterson stepped up their games, Bargnani scoring 18 points, and Peterson finishing with 17. Anthony Parker also had 18 on the night.

``Like we have all year at different parts of the season, we've had different guys go out and other guys come in and step up,'' said Peterson. ``I think Jose did a great job wihen T.J. went down, he played well and we just kind of rallied around each other and got stops when we needed to.''

Calderon filled in admirably for Ford, finishing with eight assists as he ran the offence with poise in his 38 minutes before leaving the game with 27 seconds left with a sprained right ankle.

Both guards will be questionable heading into Friday.

``It's going to be tough any time you're playing a game to keep from being eliminated,'' Mitchell said on his team's injuries. ``We've just got to try to find a way to win a game in Jersey, and get it back here for Sunday.''

Former Raptor Vince Carter scored a game-high 30 points to top the Nets, while Richard Jefferson added 23.

On the brink of elimination, the Raptors played like they were nowhere near ready to wrap up their first post-season appearance in five seasons, and for the first time this series looked like the team that won a franchise-tying 47 games this season and earned the Atlantic Division title.

After horrible first quarters in Games 3 and 4 in New Jersey, the Raptors roared to a 20-point lead with a strong first-quarter performance, Peterson and Bargnani getting the start over Rasho Nesterovic and Joey Graham to add some energy to the offence and some crucial perimeter defence.

``They mixed it up but it was more that we were out of sync that first quarter,'' said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. ``And just like we jumped on them at home, they jumped on us.''

The Raptors shot well, moved the ball well and were relentless on defence, pestering the Nets' three stars Carter, Jefferson and Kidd all night long. The home team took a 79-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Nets weren't giving up this game easily though, and cut Toronto's lead to 87-85 with 5:36 left. The Raptors managed to get their lead back to seven, but the Nets battled back again, a three-pointer by Carter with 27 seconds left after a turnover by Calderon making it a 95-94 Raptors lead.

Three free throws by Bosh and a basket by the Nets' Mikki Moore in the final 25 seconds made it a two-point Raptors lead. And then with the capacity crowd of 20,511 on its feet, a wide open Bostjan Nachbar missed on a three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded to seal the Raptors' victory.

``We just needed to score points,'' said Mitchell. ``We've been struggling to score.''

The Raptors shot a decent 49 per cent on the night, and matched the Nets in rebounding, the two teams grabbing 36 boards apiece, Graham grabbing 10 rebounds to top Toronto and Bosh adding eight.

Bosh played just 24 minutes after running into early foul trouble, and didn't look himself in his 11-point performance.

``He's just got to play better, at this time of the season, you've got to play better,'' Mitchell said of Bosh. ``For whatever reason, you can't commit silly fouls, you've just got to go play better.''

Bargnani and Peterson proved their worth after earning their starting spots. Bargnani, who was sidelined for almost the entire final month of the regular season after an appendectomy, shot 6-for-9 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and added four rebounds, a steal and a block.

Peterson hit all three of his three-point attempts, and played hard-nosed defence on Carter before he fouled out with 1:26 to play, earning a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked to the bench.

``This is the playoffs, this is very exciting, this is a series we want to win, and for the crowd to be chanting my name, our name and pulling for us is very big,'' said Peterson. ``They've been waiting for us to get back to the playoffs, and I think we owe it to them to work hard and fight to the end.''

The Raptors also did a decent job of containing Kidd, who had been outstanding throughout the series. Kidd finished with just 11 points, plus 10 assists, and didn't score his first basket until 7:29 in the third quarter.

Ford, who has been battling a bug the last few days, was knocked out of the game in a collision with Carter with 29.7 seconds left in the first quarter.

The former Raptor landed on top of Ford in a scramble for the ball, and the Raptors guard suffered what team officials said was a ``stinger'' _ a back injury that causes tingling in the arms. Ford was taken to hospital for tests, a precautionary measure because of his history with back troubles _ he missed half his rookie season and all of his second season with a spinal injury. But he was back on Toronto's bench by the end of the game.

The rowdy red-clad fans at the Air Canada Centre once again booed Carter every time he touched the ball, and broke into chants of ``V-C sucks!'' And they showed they're not giving up on this young Raptors squad yet, many hoisting signs that read ``We believe.''

The odds for a series victory remain in the Nets' favour though _ an NBA team has bounced back to win a series after being down 3-1 only eight times out of 164 tries.

The first quarter was a mirror image of the two games at New Jersey, the Raptors dominating the period shooting 65 per cent and holding the Nets to just 26 per cent, Bosh went to the bench with two fouls just five minutes into the game, but the Raptors didn't miss a beat, stretching their lead to 33-13 heading into the second.

The Nets tried to peck away at Toronto's lead in the second quarter, cutting it down to 13 points several times. Josh Boone converted a three-point play with three minutes left for a 55-42 Raptors' advantage, but that was the Nets' final basket of the half and

Toronto led 59-42 at the break.

The Nets outscored Toronto 25-20 in the third to cut the Raptors' lead to 72-63 on a three-pointer by Kidd with 2:26 left in the quarter. But Peterson responded with a three and the Raptors went on to lead 79-67 heading into the fourth.

Notes: A Game 7, if necessary, would go Sunday at the ACC. . . Calderon's points were the most by a reserve player in Raptors post-season history. . . This was the first time in franchise history the Raptors had trailed 3-1 in a series. . . The Nets clobbered the Raptors in Games 3 and 4 in New Jersey, by scores of 102-89 and 102-81 respectively. . . The Raptors haven't lost more than one home game to an opponent this season.