CLEVELAND (AP) -Jason Kidd scored 20 points and the New Jersey Nets somehow delayed an early summer vacation with an ugly 83-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night to pull within 3-2 in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Doomed by an inability to execute down the stretch in this series, the Nets built a 22-point lead in the third quarter and then hung on for dear life to force a Game 6 on Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.
New Jersey made one field goal and scored just six points in the fourth quarter on 1-of-15 shooting from the field. The Nets were also only 4-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 12 minutes.
Cleveland, which blew a chance to close out the series on its home floor, wasn’t much better, shooting just 3-of-17 in the fourth. The Cavaliers played the last 56 seconds without LeBron James, who injured himself tumbling over Cleveland’s bench while scrambling for a loose ball with Kidd.
James led the Cavaliers with 20 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16, but Larry Hughes gave Cleveland next to nothing, going 3-of-17 from the floor.
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