It’s amazing that the Nets kept the game this close considering how poorly they played.  The Nets only shot 37.2% from the floor and they were outrebounded 51-37, and those were the two biggest factors in the loss on Sunday.  Vince Carter led the way for the Nets with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists on only 7 of 23 shooting from the floor.  Richard Jefferson played good defense on LeBron but he only had 16 points and 2 rebounds.  Mikki Moore played a decent game as he finished with 10 points and 3 rebounds.  Jason Kidd didn’t do much against Larry Hughes as he was only 2 of 11 from the floor.  He finished with 7 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals.  Bostjan Nachbar played well off of the bench with 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the floor.  The Nets are now down 1-0 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in this series.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270506005

The Cavaliers have a huge advantage in the frontcourt in this series and they have homecourt advantage, but, the Nets have the “Triplets” that can cause havoc on the court.  Here’s a closer look at the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD:  The Nets have a Hall of Famer starting at point guard and the Cavs have a converted shooting guard.  This will be an interesting matchup in this series.  Jason Kidd was outstanding against the Raptors in the first round of the playoffs as he averaged a triple-double.  Kidd averaged 14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 13.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Kidd also shot 46.9% from the 3-point range and he will make the Cavs pay if they choose to double-team the basketball.  Larry Hughes still plays the game like a shooting guard and he will make Kidd work at the defensive end of the court.  Hughes averaged 19.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.25 steals per game against the Wizards.  EDGE: NETS

SHOOTING GUARD:  Vince Carter is one of the most dynamic shooting guards in the NBA.  He averaged 25.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game against the Raptors in the first round.  Carter will also make the Cavaliers double team the ball as he hit 46.9% from three-point range in round #1.  Sasha Pavlovic had a rough first series against the Wizards as he only hit 32.4% of his shots from the floor.  Pavlovic only averaged 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the first round.  The Cavs will need to get more from Pavlovic and to make Vince Carter work on defense.  EDGE:  NETS

SMALL FORWARD:  Richard Jefferson of the Nets is a really good basketball player, but, LeBron James is an elite basketball player and he will dominate Jefferson on the court.  In the first round, King James averaged 27.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.75 steals per game against the Wizards.  He is an unselfish superstar that likes to keep all of this teammates involved in the gameplan.  Jefferson also played well in the first round as he averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game against the Raptors.  This matchup will be fun to watch.  EDGE:  CAVALIERS

POWER FORWARD:  This is a huge mismatch for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Drew Gooden is an outstanding rebounder and a willing defender.  He averaged 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game as he shot 61% from the floor in the first round against the Wizards.  Mikki Moore is a glorified garbage man on offense as most of his points come on putbacks and dunks.  He averaged 7.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game in the first round against the Raptors.  He did do a good job against the Raptors’ Chris Bosh defensively in round #1.  EDGE:  CAVALIERS

CENTER:  This will be no match at all.  The Cavs have Zydrunas Ilgauskas who’s one of the best centers in the NBA while the Nets are playing Jason Collins who’s a pretty poor basketball player.  Ilgauskas was on fire in the first round as he averaged 19.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game vs. the Washington Wizards.  Collins only averaged 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game against the Raptors in the first round.  EDGE:  HUGE FOR CAVALIERS

BENCH:  The Cavaliers didn’t get much out of their bench in the first round against the Wizards and they will need more from them to beat the Nets in this series.  Rookie Daniel Gibson did a good job in his limited minutes on the court in the first round of the playoffs.  Gibson averaged 11.8 minutes, 4.3 points and 1.0 rebounds per game in the first round.  Gibson is a good shooter as he hit 55.6% of his shots from the floor and he hit 4 of 5 three pointers in the first round.  Eric Snow will provide Larry Hughes with a break once in a while on the court.  He averaged 19.3 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game against the Wizards.  Anderson Varejao needs to play much better in the 2nd round if the Cavs are to succeed in this series.  He averaged 20.0 minutes, 3.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game against the Wizards.  Varejao only hit 29.4% from the floor in the 1st round and that must improve against the Nets.  Donyell Marshall didn’t get much playing time as he only played 14 minutes against the Wizards and he only averaged 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.  The Cavs need more from him.

The Nets bench is really a young bunch but they did a decent job in the first round against the Raptors.  Bostjan Nachbar had an outstanding series in the first round of the playoffs.  He averaged 26.3 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game against the Raptors.  Antoine Wright (4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds), Josh Boone (3.7 points, 2.2 rebounds) and Marcus Williams (3.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists) each didn’t get much playing time in the first round but they played well when they got the chance.  EDGE:  EVEN

PREDICTION:  The Cavaliers front line will be way too much for the Nets to handle.  The Cavs should win this series in six games.

With 8.3 seconds left in the ballgame, Richard Jefferson hit a jumper to put the Nets ahead 98-97.  Jefferson then stole the inbound pass and the Nets won the game and eliminated the Toronto Raptors.  Richard Jefferson led the way for the Nets with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.  Vince Carter was only 6 for 19 shooting from the floor and he finished up with 21 points and 5 rebounds.  Jason Kidd did a good job of running the offense with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 15 assists.  Bostjan Nachbar was outstanding off of the bench with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in only 24 minutes on the court.  Mikki Moore added 10 points and 8 rebounds to the Nets cause.  The Nets also outrebounded the Raptors 40-30 and that was important last night.  The Nets prevailed 4-2 over the Raptors and will now face the Cleveland Cavaliers starting on Sunday.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270504017

The Nets were down 79-67 heading into the 4th quarter but they almost pulled out the game in the end as they outscored the Raptors 29-19 in the 4th quarter.  Vince Carter led the way for the Nets with 30 points and 5 rebounds.  Richard Jefferson also had a solid game with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.  Jason Kidd had a decent game too with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists.  The Nets still lead the series 3-2.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270501028

The Nets dominated the game yesterday with the Raptors.  The Nets raced out to a 86-56 lead after three quarters and they cruised to an easy victory.  Vince Carter was outstanding with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists on 9 of 15 shooting from the floor.  Richard Jefferson also had a good game with 23 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.  Jason Kidd was outstanding despite playing with a sore knee.  Kidd shot 6 of 10 from the floor and he finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 13 assists.  Bostjan Nachbar had another solid game off of the bench with 11 points and 3 rebounds in only 20 minutes on the court.  The Nets are now up 3-1 in this series.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270429017