TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 14 rebounds for his second straight playoff double-double and the Toronto Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-95 on Tuesday night, evening their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
Amir Johnson scored 16 points and Kyle Lowry had 14 as the Raptors rebounded from a 94-87 loss in Game 1. Patrick Patterson had 12 points and Greivis Vasquez finished with 11.
Joe Johnson scored 18 points, Deron Williams had 15 and Mirza Teletovic 14 for the Nets, who will host Game 3 on Friday night.
Hampered by foul trouble throughout the game, Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce went 2 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 6 from 3-point range. He finished with seven points.
Kevin Garnett scored 13 points and Shaun Livingston had 12 for the Nets, who led 66-64 heading into the fourth and couldn’t take advantage of 21 Toronto turnovers.
A 3 by Alan Anderson gave Brooklyn a five-point edge, but Toronto responded with six straight points to lead 70-69 at 9:54.
The lead changed five more times before Lowry converted a layup, and then made a pair of free throws to put the Raptors up 81-78 at 6:02.
Pierce converted a three-point play on his first field goal of the game to tie it at 83 with 3:48 left, but back-to-back jumpers by DeRozan on either side of a missed shot by Pierce gave the Raptors an 89-85 lead with 2:11 remaining.
Garnett cut the deficit in half with a pair of free throws, but Lowry scored a driving layup, and then forced a steal that led to a Patterson foul shot that gave Toronto a five-point edge. Pierce answered with another three-point play, and the Nets trailed 92-90 with 59 seconds remaining.
A turnover by DeRozan gave possession back to Brooklyn, but Pierce missed a 3 and the Raptors grabbed the rebound. DeRozan was fouled and made both with 20 seconds left, giving the Raptors a 94-90 lead.
Joe Johnson made a layup but Amir Johnson replied with a thunderous dunk, delighting the crowd of 20,382. Pierce missed again, DeRozan grabbed the rebound and sealed it with four free throws in the final 12 seconds.
Brooklyn jumped out to an 8-1 lead, but lost momentum when Pierce picked up his second foul at 8:01 and headed to the bench.
The Nets missed nine straight shots and went scoreless for almost five minutes as Toronto used a 20-6 run to take a 21-14 lead on Patterson’s 3 at 1:39 of the first. Two free throws by Williams and a 3 from Teletovic helped Brooklyn cut it to 21-19 after 12 minutes.
Pierce returned in the second, but his only point came from the free-throw line as the Nets continued to struggle with their shooting. After hitting seven of 19 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, Brooklyn made eight of 21 attempts in the second. DeRozan scored seven points for the Raptors, who led 45-39 at halftime.