Carter, Nets cruise past Raptors in Game 4

Carter ended 9-of-15 shooting from the field and grabbed seven rebounds to go along with seven assists.

"Just about being aggressive and playing hard for my team," Carter said.

Richard Jefferson scored 23 points and Jason Kidd had a double-double with 17 points and 13 assists for the Nets, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"Things could be much worse," Bosh said. "We just have to look back at our mistakes and try to stay alive in our series."

New Jersey, which finished 47 percent shooting from the floor, has won seven of its last nine Game 4s.

Andrea Bargnani had 16 points and Chris Bosh netted 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who shot 42 percent from the floor in the game.

Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday at Air Canada Centre.

New Jersey exploded out of the gate with a 22-9 burst — capped by Kidd’s three-pointer — and ended the first quarter with eight straight points for a 32-15 lead.

The Nets opened up a 21-point cushion, 43-22, on Bostjan Nachbar’s triple midway through the second, while Toronto got as close as 11 on a Bargnani jumper with 3:47 left.

Antoine Wright’s dunk, though, put New Jersey up 56-37 at the break. Carter finished with 21 points in the first half.

The Nets dominated the third and broke the game open by scoring 30 points in the frame — led by Jefferson’s 16 — to take an 86-56 lead into the fourth.

It was much of the same in the final frame as the Raptors failed to mount an offensive threat while New Jersey cruised to the easy victory.

Game Notes

Nachbar had 11 points...New Jersey shot 52 percent (14-of-27) from three-point range...Toronto fell to 2-2 all-time in Game 4s in the playoffs...The Raptors dropped to 3-11 on the road in the postseason...Attendance was 20,032.