NBA Game Summary - Indiana at New Jersey

East Rutherford, NJ (Basketball News) - Anthony Johnson’s two free throws with less than a second remaining lifted the Indiana Pacers to a 90-88 win over the New Jersey Nets in the opener of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Continental Airlines Arena.

Vince Carter tied the game at 88 with an offensive rebound and tip-in, but Johnson was fouled by Clifford Robinson with 0.9 ticks on the clock. After Johnson drained both from the charity stripe, Richard Jefferson had a chance to win the game with a shot from the wing, but the ball bounced out giving the sixth-seeded Pacers the early advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Stephen Jackson had 18 points and eight rebounds and Jermaine O’Neal and Fred Jones each had 15 points for the Pacers, who have won six of their last seven games. Johnson and Peja Stojakovic netted 12 apiece in the contest.

Despite shooting 12-of-33 from the floor, Carter led the Nets with 31 points and a playoff career-high 13 boards, while Nenad Krstic chipped in 22 points in the loss, New Jersey’s third straight. Jefferson finished with 19 points for the Nets, who are 3-12 in the first game of a playoff series.

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday at the Meadowlands.

Leading 65-64 heading into the final frame, Jefferson pushed the Nets lead to 73-69 with an alley-oop dunk nearly four minutes into the quarter. Indiana, however, responded with an 8-2 burst, including a pair of baskets from O’Neal, to retake the lead at 77-75.

The game continued to go back-and-forth until Jeff Foster’s layup extended lead to 87-84 with 1:23 on the clock. Jefferson’s driving layup pulled the Nets within one before Foster nailed 1-of-2 at the line for an 88-86 edge with 46 seconds to play.

Indiana closed the opening period with an 11-4 surge, highlighted by threes from Jones and Austin Croshere, for a 30-24 edge after 12 minutes of play. Jackson scored 13 points and the Pacers’ bench outscored the Nets’ reserves 12-0 in the frame.

Jacque Vaughan’s driving layup pulled the Nets within one, 41-40, but Stojakovic drained a pair of jumpers for a 45-40 margin. New Jersey countered with three straight baskets in the paint, including a dunk and a layup from Carter, to move in front 46-45, but Indiana scored the final five points of the half for 50-46 advantage.

Carter shot 5-of-19, including 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, in the first half as New Jersey connected on 43 percent of its shots, compared to the 56 percent from the floor from the Pacers.

Stojakovic’s layup gave the Pacers a 59-56 lead, but New Jersey countered with a 7-0 rally, capped by a pair of Jefferson free throws for a 63-59 lead. Indiana went on a scoreless drought of more than five minutes to add fuel to the run.