NBA PLAYOFFS

Nets lean on experience, Pierce

Brooklyn Nets forward Paul Pierce (34) is fouled by Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson (15) during the second half of their first-round NBA playoff game in Toronto on Saturday. Pierce scored 15 points and the Nets won 94-87.
Brooklyn Nets forward Paul Pierce (34) is fouled by Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson (15) during the second half of their first-round NBA playoff game in Toronto on Saturday. Pierce scored 15 points and the Nets won 94-87.

TORONTO - The Brooklyn Nets made a case for the important of playoff experience in their opening victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Deron Williams and Joe Johnson (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) each had 24 points, Paul Pierce scored nine of his 15 points in the final quarter and the Nets beat the Raptors 94-87 on Saturday in Game 1 of their first round NBA playoff series.

Playing in his 137th career postseason game, Pierce connected on four of his five shots in the fourth as the Nets kept the Raptors at bay.

“You just get that feeling, you’ve been in those situations a number of times,” Pierce said.

“I don’t get rattled in the fourth quarter, down the stretch or in playoff settings. I’ve been in pretty much every playoff setting that you can imagine. I just try to stay calm and bring my calmness to the game.”

Nets Coach Jason Kidd said Williams “set the tone” by scoring 18 points in the first half.

“He came out with high energy,” Kidd said. “I thought he was looking to be aggressive in scoring the ball. He got the guys off to a good start.”

Shaun Livingston scored 10 points and Kevin Garnett had five as the Nets won despite making 4 of 24 three-pointers.

“We didn’t shoot well from three tonight, but we made up for that by taking care of the ball, good defense down the stretch, making plays offensively,” Williams said. “That’s why we got the win.”

The Nets turned the ball over nine times, while the Raptors had 19, leading to 17 Brooklyn points.

“That was the biggest issue,” Toronto Coach Dwane Casey said.

Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Raptors.

Valanciunas is the second Raptors player to have at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in his postseason debut. Tracy McGrady had 25 points and 10 rebounds against New York in his first playoff game in 2000.

“He grew up today and that was huge for us,” Casey said of Valanciunas.

Valanciunas also set a Raptors record for playoff rebounds, surpassing Keon Clark, who had 16 against Detroit in 2002.

Greivis Vasquez had 18points for the Raptors and DeMar DeRozan had 14 in his playoff debut, making three of 14 field-goal attempts.

“DeMar didn’t have the best of games” Lowry said. “He’ll bounce back for sure.”

The game was delayed midway through the third quarter when the shot clocks above each basket malfunctioned. Play eventually resumed with both clocks still dark, and the stadium announcer marking the remaining time at 10 seconds, then counting down from five before saying, ‘Horn’ as time expired. The clocks remained inactive for the rest of the game.

“It was definitely tough because you’re used to looking up to see the time,” DeRozan said. “We just tried to help each other out when the announcer called down from 10 seconds.”

In a written statement, Raptors ownership blamed the outage on a “signal path failure” that also affected the backup clocks. The team said new cables will be installed and inspected by the league before Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Trailing by five to start the final quarter, Toronto tied it at 67-67 with 9:50 left, thanks to a three-pointer and a fast break layup from Patrick Patterson.

Brooklyn moved back in front, thanks to four points by Livingston and a banked jumper by Mirza Teletovic, but the Raptors tied it at 73-73 with 6:25 left on Lowry’s driving layup.

Toronto led 77-76 on a three-pointer by Vasquez at 5:15, but the Nets replied with a jumper by Johnson, a turnaround jumper by Garnett and a three-pointer by Pierce to lead 82-76 with 2:58 remaining. Garnett’s basket was his first made field goal in five tries.

WARRIORS 109, CLIPPERS 105

LOS ANGELES - Klay Thompson scored 22 points, David Lee added 20 and the Golden State Warriors got Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in foul trouble to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in their playoff opener.

Stephen Curry added 14 points for the Warriors, who trailed by 11 points early before rallying in the third when Griffin and Paul were on the bench together.

Paul led the Clippers with 28 points, and J.J. Redick added 22 points in 30 minutes. Griffin finished with 16 points, fouling out with 48 seconds left and the game tied at105-105. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

THUNDER 100, GRIZZLIES 86

OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Memphis Grizzlies in the opening game of their first-round series.

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder, who nearly squandered a 25-point lead but recovered from a dismal third quarter to make 10 of 16 shots in the fourth.

Zach Randolph led Memphis with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but he made just seven of 21 shots and got into foul trouble in the second half. Mike Conley had 16 points and 11 assists, Mark Gasol scored 16 points and Tony Allen added 13 points for the Grizzlies. The Thunder held Memphis to 36 percent shooting.

HAWKS 101, PACERS 93

INDIANAPOLIS - Jeff Teague scored a playoff career-high 28 points and Paul Millsap added 25 as eighth-seeded Atlanta rolled past top-seeded Indiana, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Hawks ended an eight-game road losing streak in the playoffs, which dated to May 2011. Game 2 is Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Indiana, which spent the whole season working to get home-court advantage in the playoffs, wasted no time in giving it right back with a dismal third quarter. Paul George finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Atlanta opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run, breaking a 50-50 tie, then pulled away when Teague scored nine points in a 14-0 run that made it 74-58 with 4:08 left in the quarter.

Indiana couldn’t get closer than eight the rest of the way.

Sports, Pages 28 on 04/20/2014

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