NEW YORK - Deron Williams had the Brooklyn Nets speeding toward a Game 7 when suddenly everything stopped.
He had just crashed to the court with what looked like another ankle injury. Kevin Garnett waved for help, and Williams slowly began limping back toward the bench. Then he decided to stay in.
For all the big names and big salaries on the Nets, Williams knows they aren’t going anywhere unless he leads them.
Williams shook off his second-half injury to score 23points and Brooklyn forced a seventh game in its firstround series by beating the Toronto Raptors 97-83 on Friday night.
“I think that just shows leadership and toughness, and that’s what he did tonight for us,” Nets Coach Jason Kidd said.
Despite spraining his left ankle early in the third quarter, Williams dominated his matchup with Kyle Lowry and helped the Nets put it away with a three-pointer with 1:13 left that made it 92-79.
Game 7 is Sunday in Toronto, with the winner advancing to face the defending champion Miami Heat.
It became the fourth firstround series ticketed for a door-die game in these playoffs, with the Atlantic Division champion Raptors trying to get by a Nets team that still has a chance to reach the high expectations it had entering the season.
But it can’t be done without Williams, who has scored 20 points in all three Nets victories in the series.
“I know myself, I needed to be more aggressive after the last two losses,” Williams, who has battled ankle problems the last two seasons, said after limping up to the postgame podium.
“In the three games we’ve won, I’ve been really aggressive getting into the paint, making things happen, not only scoring the ball but making the extra pass,” Williams added, “and so I know that’s what my team needs me to do.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 for the Raptors, who will have to go the distance if they are to win a seven-game series for the first time in franchise history. They haven’t won any postseason series since 2001, and never really had a chance to wrap this one up after falling behind by 26 points.
“We should’ve known they were going to come out throwing haymakers and we weren’t ready for it until the second half,” DeRozan said.
Lowry shot 4 of 16 for 11 points after scoring 36 in the Raptors’ Game 5 victory. He was the only other Toronto player in double figures.
Joe Johnson (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) had 17 points and Kevin Garnett 13 for the Nets, who will play in a Game 7 for the second consecutive season. They fell to Chicago last year on their home floor and will try to win it this time in Toronto, where they won Game 1.
Alan Anderson had nine points and nine rebounds for the Nets after Kidd shook up his starting lineup, inserting Anderson over Shaun Livingston.
After ringing up a franchise playoff-record 44 points in fourth quarter of a Game 5 comeback that fell short, the Nets carried that momentum into this one, making 11 of their first 15 shots in what became a 34-point opening period.
“Tonight, they got their foot on the pedal a lot quicker than we did,” Toronto Coach Dwane Casey said.
MAVERICKS 113, SPURS 111
DALLAS - Monta Ellis scored 12 of his 29 points to lead a fourth-quarter comeback, Dirk Nowitzki added 22 and the Dallas Mavericks forced a seventh game in their first-round series with top-seeded San Antonio.
The eighth-seeded Mavericks bounced back from consecutive losses by handing the Spurs their first road defeat when leading after three quarters this season.
Tony Parker scored 22 to lead the heavily favored Spurs, who are stuck in a tossup series after they won all four games against Dallas during the regular season.
San Antonio took a nine-game winning streak against the Texas rival into the sixth postseason meeting between the teams, but now the second Game 7 between these teams is Sunday in San Antonio. The Mavericks won the other one there in 2006.
The Mavericks kept the series alive on the same floor where Vince Carter had given them a 2-1 series lead and sent the crowd into hysterics with an improbable winning three-pointer.
Fans were standing the entire fourth quarter this time, when the Mavericks trailed by five points to start the final 12 minutes before a 14-2 run for an eightpoint lead. Parker got the Spurs close again and had a duel of driving layups with Ellis in the final 2 minutes.
Parker, who had 13 of his points in the fourth and added six assists, spun through the lane before shoveling one up over Nowitzki with his left hand to get the Spurs within 106-105.
The Mavericks pushed the lead back to six before the Spurs made it interesting again with three-pointers from Danny Green and Patty Mills. It wasn’t over until a shot by Mills on an inbound play with 0.4 seconds left was ruled to have been late. It was short anyway.
Dallas’ DeJuan Blair had 10 points and 14 rebounds after missing Game 5 against his former team when he was suspended for kicking Tiago Splitter in the head.
Both teams had six players in double figures, with Splitter making 11 of 12 free throws for a playoff career-high 19 points. Danny Green had 17, matching his total for the first five games of the series combined, and Tim Duncan had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Carter finished with 13, and Jose Calderon had 12 points and six assists.
NBA playoffs
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Brooklyn 97, Toronto 83,
Series tied 3-3
Dallas 113, San Antonio 111,
Series tied 3-3
Portland 99, Houston 98,
Portland wins series 4-2
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Atlanta at Indiana, 5:30 p.m.,
Series tied 3-3
Memphis at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.,
Series tied 3-3
Golden State at LA Clippers, 9:30 p.m.,
Series tied 3-3
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/03/2014