New Jersey entering Game 6 with poor-shooting shadow

The Nets cut the Cavs’ lead in the series to 3-2 with an 83-72 victory in Cleveland.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — After the fourth quarter they played in Game 5, the New Jersey Nets were lucky they didn’t spend Thursday cleaning out their lockers for the summer.

Instead, they were back on the practice court, gearing up for tonight’s Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And if that one is as ugly as Wednesday? That’s just fine with the Nets, as long as the result is also the same.

Doesn’t matter

“It’s all about holding on,” Vince Carter said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty. Right now, it’s just get a win.”

The Nets cut the Cavaliers’ lead in the series to 3-2 with an 83-72 victory in Cleveland.

New Jersey dominated the first three quarters, then held on with 12 minutes better suited for a team in the lottery than the second round: 1-for-15 shooting from the field, 4-of-10 from the foul line, and six points.

“I thought it was a masterpiece,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

Easy for him to say.

The Cavs saw things differently after shooting 33 percent and blowing their first chance to secure a spot in the conference finals.

“Games like that can make it hard to sleep,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

Though this one didn’t cost them, it was the second straight horrendous fourth quarter for the Nets. They were only 3-for-16 in the final period of their 87-85 home loss in Game 4, when they didn’t make a field goal in the final 6:58.

Cleveland hasn’t been much better. The Cavs were 4-of-14 in the fourth quarter of Game 4, then failed to take advantage of the Nets’ woes Wednesday by missing 14 of their 17 attempts.

What to expect

And if Frank is right, don’t expect an offensive beauty Friday, either.

“You see it from both teams,” he said.

“I think when you compete so hard on the defensive end and guys are playing big minutes, it is a mental battle of overcoming fatigue and not settling on the offensive end. Because when guys pick and choose in the playoffs in terms of maximum effort, they’re going to give maximum effort on the defensive end.

“So the bottom line is, if you don’t score, they don’t score. It’s that simple.”

The Cavaliers didn’t practice Thursday, giving them a chance to rest a couple of injuries.

LeBron James left Wednesday’s game in the final minute with a right knee bruise and laceration, but has been cleared to play tonight.