Nets edge Raptors, advance to 2nd round_娱乐_双语阅读-查字典英语网

Nets edge Raptors, advance to 2nd round

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - After helping the New Jersey Nets beat the Toronto Raptors with his scoring and passing, Vince Carter sent his former team packing in a most unusual way: by being a decoy for Richard Jefferson. Jefferson scored the winning basket on a spinning layup over Chris Bosh with 8.3 seconds left and stole a pass in the waning seconds as the Nets beat the Raptors 98-97 on Friday night to win their first-round series 4-2.

Nets edge Raptors, advance to 2nd round1

Toronto Raptors' Chris Bosh, right, blocks a shot by New Jersey Nets' Vince Carter during the third quarter of Game 6 NBA first-round basketball Friday night, May 4, 2007, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Nets won the game, 98-97, and the series, four games to two. [AP]Next on the agenda for the Nets will be LeBron James and the Cavaliers, starting Sunday in Cleveland.

However, New Jersey easily could have been playing a Game 7 in Toronto had Jefferson not stepped up big time after getting a surprising call from Nets coach Lawrence Frank with the game on the line.

With New Jersey trailing 97-96, Bosh missed a jumper from the top of the key with 16 seconds to play. Antoine Wright got the rebound and the Nets called a timeout with 12.6 seconds remaining.

Everyone in the Continental Airlines Arena watched the Nets walk to the bench and expected Frank to call a play for Carter, the former Raptor who was booed every time he touched the ball in Canada in this series.

Frank had another idea. He called Jefferson's number and had Carter run to the left corner, the same side from which Bostjan Nachbar was inbounding the ball. The pass went to Jason Kidd on the left wing and he found Jefferson coming off a screen by Mikki Moore at the right side of the key.