The most pressure-packed moments of playoff basketball, when the legs get heavy and the palms sweaty, seem to suit those young Toronto Raptors just fine.
Instead, it's the veteran Brooklyn Nets who are fizzling at the finish.
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry added 22, and the Raptors beat the Nets 87-79 on Sunday night to even their Eastern Conference first-round series at two games apiece.
Amir Johnson had 17 points for the Raptors, who started fast, gave up all of a 17-point lead, then shut the Nets down over the final 5 minutes to snap a 13-game road losing streak in the playoffs that went back 13 years.
Paul Pierce scored 22 points for the Nets, who were 3 for 17 in the fourth quarter and didn't have a field goal after Pierce's basket with 6:13 left gave them a 77-73 lead.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Toronto, with the series now guaranteed a return to Brooklyn on Friday for Game 6.
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