Raptors at Nets
The Brooklyn Nets look to take a commanding lead of their best-of-seven first-round series when they host the Toronto Raptors in Game 4 on Sunday. Although they had to survive a near-collapse in the final five minutes, the Nets picked up a 102-98 win in Friday's Game 3 to grab a 2-1 series advantage with their 23rd win in 27 home games since the calendar turned to 2014. Joe Johnson scored 29 points and Deron Williams had 22 to help offset 30 by Toronto's DeMar DeRozan.
The Raptors will try to take some solace in the fact that they fought so hard down the stretch in Game 3 and will hope that some of the momentum carries over. "This team tried to throw haymakers at us and go at us, and we did a good job of battling back and staying in the game," Toronto coach Dwane Casey told reporters. The Raptors still need to clean up their game to stay in the series, as they have turned the ball over 59 times, compared to just 31 for the Nets.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TNT, TSN (Toronto), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS: Forward Patrick Patterson will be remembered in Toronto for missing two free throws with his team trailing by two points in the closing seconds of Game 3, but his contributions in the series have been critical for the Raptors. The fourth-year pro, making his playoff debut, is averaging 12.7 points on 62.5 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds off the bench, earning the favor of Casey over starter Terrence Ross. Ross, who averaged 10.9 points in 26.7 minutes during the regular season, has made just 3-of-16 shots in the series while playing less than six minutes total in the fourth quarter.
ABOUT THE NETS: Johnson has been too much for the Raptors so far, averaging 23.7 points overall and standing as the lone factor for Brooklyn down the stretch Friday night, when he produced 11 fourth-quarter points to help stave off Toronto. Johnson is shooting 60.5 percent from the floor in the series, which represents a bit of a departure from past playoff performances. While he has put up some big scoring totals over the years, the veteran shot 40.9 percent in the postseason in a span of 54 games from 2008 to 2013.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Raptors have outscored the Nets by a 68-54 margin in the fourth quarter over the last two games.
2. Brooklyn has been outrebounded by an average of 12 per game in the series.
3. Toronto is 3-16 all-time on the road in the playoffs.