Chris Bosh had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who bounced back from a 96-91 loss on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. Ford ended with 13 points.
"I think we played great defense," Parker said. "We just weren’t getting those shot to go our way and they executed. They hit some big shots down the stretch, but we made some big plays ourselves and we were able to pull it out."
Former Raptor Vince Carter had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, while teammate Jason Kidd tallied 14 points, 11 boards and seven assists. Bostjan Nachbar had 17 points and Richard Jefferson 13 on just 4-of-16 in a losing cause.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday at Continental Airlines Arena.
Jefferson’s three-pointer boosted the Nets to an 83-82 lead with 46.6 seconds left, but Ford was then fouled by Nachbar and converted both foul shots.
Jefferson then missed a jumper from the left wing and Ford made two more at the line with 15.2 seconds to go.
New Jersey’s attempt to tie was off the mark, as Nachbar couldn’t connect on a three from the left corner. Parker sealed the victory by making three free throws over the final 8.1 seconds.
"I think in the end we had a wonderful opportunity," Carter said. "We had a lot of good shots that just didn’t fall down for us. Bostjan Nachbar had a wonderful look at a three, but they (Raptors) just kept playing, kept coming, and they got the job done."
Toronto’s defense did a great job on Jefferson, who hit for 28 points on Saturday, but struggled in Game 2.
"You look at the way we played and if you look at both games, we probably dominated 80 percent of the two games," Jefferson said. "We were fortunate to come up here and get one, now have to go home and protect our home court."
Both teams shot 40.8 percent from the field, but the Raptors came up big defensively with nine steals, including four from Parker.
"We knew that we were going to have to come in and play tough defense," Bosh said. "We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we wanted to, but we didn’t let that affect us because we continued to play good team defense and we kept our guys in front of us."
Prior to the game, NBA commissioner David Stern presented Toronto’s Sam Mitchell the league’s Coach of the Year award, but the honor did little to inspire the Raptors, at least offensively in the first quarter. It was a period in which Toronto outscored the Nets, 14-12. The Raptors had the final seven points of the stanza, ending it on Parker’s three at the buzzer.
The Raptors scored nine in a row in the second, taking a 25-18 lead. The Nets then responded with nine straight, capped by Carter’s free throw with under four minutes left in the quarter. Carter nailed a jumper just before the buzzer, extending New Jersey to a 36-33 lead at the half.
Toronto opened the third on a 12-4 spurt, but the lead see-sawed back to the Nets later in the period. Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani hit a double-clutch jumper at the buzzer, but it was waved off, as the Nets held a 63-58 advantage going into the fourth.
The Raptors began the fourth on a 10-0 spurt, capped by a Parker three, but the Nets responded, tying the game at 70 on a Carter tip.
Kidd’s three moved New Jersey to a 78-74 lead with under four minutes left, but Bosh responded with two foul shots and Ford nailed a three, giving Toronto a 79-78 edge with less than three minutes to go.
Game Notes
The 12 points for the Nets in the first quarter is an all-time team low in the playoffs for any quarter, and the least allowed by the Raptors ever in the postseason...The Nets were 10-of-23 from beyond the arc...Toronto is 2-11 lifetime in the playoffs when scoring less than 93 points...The 12 assists for Toronto is a franchise low for the playoffs.
New Jersey Nets 
Toronto Raptors 
