He said when he bought the team his goal was to win a title in five years. The billionaire bachelor joked that since he’s two years into his ownership and said he'd get married if he didn’t meet his deadline that he was ‘‘maybe the most devoted guy for the championship.’’
Williams made a jumper for the first Barclays basket, but Toronto shot 62.5 percent in the first quarter and led 35-27. The Nets outscored the Raptors 33-17 in the second, forcing eight turnovers, and led 60-52 at halftime.
‘‘That was a big quarter, a stretch of mistakes there. One stretch that got us in the second quarter,’’ Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ‘‘Again, we fought our way back into position even with that bad quarter. We put ourselves in position to win. We got to close it out.’’
Williams put it away with four free throws in the final 20 seconds.
Reggie Evans had 13 rebounds in just 16 minutes off the Nets’ bench.
Notes: Wallace hurt his left ankle trying to block a shot in the final minutes. X-rays were negative and the Nets said he was day to day. ... Nets reserve Josh Childress sat out with a sore left ankle and Avery Johnson said he doubted Childress would play Monday against Minnesota, either. ... The Nets evened the all-times series at 33-33.
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