The Raptors utilized an explosive fourth quarter from DeMar DeRozan to tie up their Eastern Conference first round series with the Nets at 1-1.
Nets veteran and leader, Paul Pierce, was not pleased with his team’s effort in the loss and said they “were a soft team”on Tuesday night.
“I thought guys stuck to their man individually for the most part and didn’t help one another and that is the big part of our defense,” Pierce said. “Sink and shrinking the floor, locking down the paint, tonight too many touches for them in the paint, too many paint points, and we didn’t rebound.
“We gave them everything they wanted, 50 points in the paint, and [19] offensive rebounds,” Pierce added. “We were a soft team tonight.”
Brooklyn is still in a pretty good position heading home for two games. The Nets allowed the Raptors to shoot 75% in the fourth quarter on 12-16 shooting from the field.
Combine that with DeRozan’s explosive fourth quarter as well, and the Nets should feel confident that they may have gotten the Raptors best shot.