Vince Carter was ineffective from the field in his first playoff game as an opponent at his former home, making only 5-of-19 shots and finishing with 16 points. Jason Kidd contributed eight points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in the victory.
"It is always good to start off the playoffs with a win no matter if you’re home or on the road," said Kidd. "Our job is not done. It’s the first one to four [wins], not the first one to one."
Chris Bosh, saddled with foul trouble for most of the first half, scored 22 points for Toronto, which won the Atlantic for its first-ever division title and earned the third seed in the playoffs.
T.J. Ford added 21 points and Anthony Parker chipped in 16 for the Raptors, who will try to even the best-of-seven series in Game 2 on Tuesday in Toronto.
"Everybody now has one game under their belt," said Ford. "We’ll just regroup tomorrow and go over our mistakes and get ready for Tuesday."
The Nets blew most of a 15-point lead and held a tenuous 84-83 edge with just over 2 1/2 minutes to play when Nachbar drilled a three-pointer from the left corner. It was just the second basket for the Nets in the fourth quarter.
Carter then hit one free throw and Nachbar made two to extend the New Jersey lead to seven.
A few moments later, Toronto pulled within four on a three-point play by Bosh with 1:15 left and had a chance to draw closer with 40 seconds to play, but Bosh missed a baseline jumper.
Kidd missed a three-pointer for New Jersey, but Mikki Moore grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws for a 94-88 lead with 15.3 seconds to play.
Parker drilled a long three for the Raptors after a timeout, but Carter sank one free throw and Kidd hit another in the closing seconds to seal it.
"We had our opportunities, we just made some mistakes at the wrong time and the mistakes we made are just easy to correct," said Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell.
The Raptors trailed by as many as 15 late in the third quarter and entered the fourth down 78-65. However, a pair of three-pointers by Jose Calderon and one from Parker fueled a 17-5 run to open the period. Calderon’s driving layup with just over four minutes left pulled Toronto within 83-82, but the Raptors were never able to take the lead.
"I think Toronto answered virtually every run we had and we were just fortunate to make some key plays," said Nets head coach Lawrence Frank. "It was a really good total team win."
New Jersey built a 51-41 edge at the intermission, but Toronto scored the first nine points of the third quarter. A three-point play by Ford drew the Raptors within 51-50 and Carter left the floor for the Nets with four fouls.
The superstar did not return in the period, but the Nets were able to stretch their lead thanks mostly to Jefferson.
After a Jason Collins putback, Jefferson converted a three-point play and drilled a three-pointer as New Jersey scored eight straight points to regain command at 59-50. A Kidd three-pointer a few minutes later made it an 11-point game and he added another long jumper with 2:22 left in the third to give New Jersey a 72-58 cushion.
The lead reached 15 late in the third before two Bosh free throws sent the Raptors into the final period trailing 78-65.
Bosh, in his first playoff appearance, was 7-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the line.
"They were definitely more posed than we were," said Bosh. "I don’t think we played the basketball we normally play. We left a lot of guys open in the corner and they made us pay for it."
The Nets opened a 23-22 lead after one quarter. Kidd had eight assists during the period as New Jersey led by as many as five, at 23-18 after an 11-2 run. Ford scored 14 for Toronto during the stanza, draining four free throws in the closing seconds to make it a one-point game.
A dunk by Nachbar and a three-pointer by Carter to start the second quarter extended the New Jersey lead to six and the cushion reached nine midway through the period on a three-pointer by Nachbar for a 42-31 advantage.
Toronto got as close as three, at 44-41 on a three by Juan Dixon with just over three minutes left in the half, but the Nets scored the final seven points and took a 51-41 lead to the break.
Jefferson scored 17 points in the first half for New Jersey, while Kidd had 11 assists. Bosh played just 10 minutes in the first half because of his foul trouble.
"He is our best player and he got into foul trouble...that stuff hurts you," Mitchell added.
Game Notes
Carter played for the Raptors from 1998 through December 2004 before being traded to New Jersey...The teams split four meetings during the regular season, each winning at home...Rasho Nesterovic had 10 rebounds for Toronto, which fell to 1-3 in its playoff openers.
New Jersey Nets 
Toronto Raptors 
