NBA ROUNDUP \ Tuesday's games
Raptors 89, Nets 83
TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors made Sam Mitchell a winner twice on Tuesday. Anthony Parker scored 26 points, Chris Bosh added 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Raptors beat the Nets to even their first-round series at a game apiece. New Jersey's Bostjan Nachbar missed a 3-pointer from the corner that would have tied the game with 8 seconds to play. Game 3 is Friday night in New Jersey. Toronto got its first playoff victory since a 94-84 home win over Detroit on April 27, 2002. It came hours after Mitchell was honored as the NBA's coach of the year after leading the Raptors to a 20-win improvement and their first Atlantic Division title. T.J. Ford scored 13 points for the Raptors, including four key free throws in the final minute. Parker also made three free throws in the final 8 seconds. Vince Carter had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who also got 14 points and 11 boards from Jason Kidd. Nachbar finished with 17 points for the Nets. Richard Jefferson, whose 28-point performance led the Nets to victory in Game 1, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 13 points. The Nets led 63-60 to begin the fourth, but a three-point play by Bosh tied the score at 63 with 11 minutes left. Bosh scored 11 points in the quarter.
Bulls 107, Heat 89
CHICAGO -- The Miami Heat climbed out of their last 2-0 playoff deficit. They'll need more from Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade to perform similar magic this time. Ben Gordon scored 27 points and Luol Deng added 26 to lead the Bulls to a 2-0 lead over the defending champions in this first-round series. Gordon scored 11 in the third quarter, hitting three 3-pointers, as the Bulls built a 17-point lead. Deng scored 14 in the fourth as Chicago sent Miami halfway to elimination. O'Neal and Wade had subpar performances again after struggling through foul trouble in the opener, finishing with 17 and 21 points, respectively. O'Neal was just 6-for-14 from the floor with eight rebounds. And Wade, who led a late charge in Game 1, never really got going, hitting 9-of-19. Trailing 85-71 through three quarters, the Heat were within seven after Wade's layup early in the fourth, but they had no answer for Deng. Quiet in the first half after scoring 33 in the opener, Deng scored the Bulls' first eight points in the fourth before Thabo Sefolosha hit a jumper that made it 95-82 midway through the quarter. The best-of-seven series shifts to Miami for two games, with Game 3 Friday night. Home teams that have taken the first two games in a best-of-seven series have gone on to advance 95 percent of the time, but the Heat and Bulls have bucked that trend in recent seasons. Miami dropped the first two games at Dallas in last year's finals, then won four straight to capture the championship. Two years ago, the Bulls opened with two wins at home over Washington but lost in their first playoff appearance since the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era.
Associated Press
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