NBA Playoffs - Eastern Conference First Round
Game 2 - Brooklyn leads series 1-0
Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Toronto -4, Total: 188.0

The Raptors look to tie up their first-round series with the Nets on Tuesday night, as they don't want to be down 2-0 when they set out on the road.

Brooklyn went into a wild Air Canada Centre on Saturday and came away with a huge Game 1 victory, prevailing 94-87 as a four-point underdog. The Nets forced 19 turnovers to steal home-court advantage in the series with three of the next six games set to take place at Barclays Center, if necessary. They improved to 17-25 SU (19-23 ATS) on the road this season, while Toronto fell to 26-16 SU (21-20-1 ATS) at home, and 1-6 ATS in the past seven games overall. Saturday's victory was just the second win in six games for the Nets, who had dropped five in row ATS. Although they are a profitable 23-21 ATS following an SU win this season, the Raptors are an outstanding, 22-11-1 ATS (67%) after an SU defeat this season. Over the past three seasons, Brooklyn is 4-3 SU when playing on the road in this series, while Toronto holds the 4-3 ATS advantage. The Nets, however, have won-and-covered in two straight games in the series this season, and have gone 9-1 ATS in road games off a win against a division rival over the past two seasons. The Raptors, however, are 11-1 ATS after a game forcing their opponent to commit eight or less turnovers during the past two seasons. There are no significant injuries for either team in this matchup.

The Nets preferred to play against the Raptors and in Game 1 they showed why. Brooklyn's experience ultimately ended up being too much for a Toronto team that looked uncomfortable playing in the postseason with so much youth. The difference maker for the Nets ended up being SF Paul Pierce (13.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG), who finished with 15 points (6-of-13 FG, 2-of-5 threes), four rebounds, four assists and a game-high-tying rating of +20. Pierce hit a number of his big shots in the fourth, on his way to a nine-point quarter. However, the bulk of the scoring for Brooklyn came from its backcourt, as PG Deron Williams (14.3 PPG, 6.1 APG) and SG Joe Johnson (15.8 PPG) each had 24 points while making the Raptors guards extremely uncomfortable defensively. Williams had just three assists, but looked about as healthy as he has all season in posting a +20 rating. His backcourt mate SG Shaun Livingston (8.3 PPG, 3.2 APG, 3.2 RPG) had 10 points (4-of-6 FG), three rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. Brooklyn will need a better performance from their big men in Game 2 though, as C Kevin Garnett (6.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG) and PF Mason Plumlee (7.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG) combined for just seven points (2-of-6 FG) and 11 rebounds.

The Raptors came out in Game 1 and appeared overcome with nerves on their way to a 94-87 loss. Luckily for Toronto, it will be extremely hard for SG DeMar DeRozan (22.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.0 APG) to play as poorly as he did in the opening game. DeRozan had 14 points on 3-of-13 FG (0-of-4 threes) in 37 minutes and appeared to be forcing the issue whenever the ball was in his hands. Toronto did get a big performance from C Jonas Valanciunas (11.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG), who finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds while also blocking two shots in 35 minutes. His size is likely to be a major asset for the Raptors for the remainder of this series, but his game-high six turnovers led to a game-worst rating of minus-17. The Raptors also got a ton of production from the point guard position with Kyle Lowry (17.9 PPG, 7.4 APG, 4.7 RPG) finishing with 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. But he also committed five turnovers and posted a minus-12 rating, so he will need to be more careful with the ball on Tuesday. Backup PG Greivis Vasquez (9.6 PPG, 4.1 APG) finished with 18 points, four rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover in 29 minutes. Vasquez had some timely buckets down the stretch and really gave the team a much-needed spark off the bench, leading the club with a +8 rating.