The Toronto Raptors came dangerously close to playoff extinction on Tuesday, but have extended the New Jersey Nets to a sixth game in their opening-round series.

Jose Calderon had 25 points and eight assists before rolling an ankle in the final minute of Toronto's 98-96 victory over the visiting Nets in Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference quarter-final at the Air Canada Centre.

Anthony Parker and Morris Peterson celebrate a 98-96 Raptors home win.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"Jose did a spectacular job tonight," Raptors centre Chris Bosh said. "He made some big shots."

Calderon reportedly sprained his right ankle, creating a potential problem at guard because T.J. Ford suffered a stinger when Vince Carter fell on him with 29.7 seconds left in the first quarter.

A stinger is a back injury which creates a tingling sensation down both arms.

Ford, who was shelved a season and a half because of spine problems, was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.

He finished with three points and two assists in seven minutes.

"Hopefully, they will feel a little bit better tomorrow," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said.

Rookie Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker scored 18 points apiece, and Morris Peterson provided 17 points before fouling out.

"We just kind of rallied around each other and got stops when we needed to," Peterson said.

Bosh was severely hampered by foul trouble — he had four of them — which forced him to sit for long stretches.

Bosh totalled 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots as Toronto improved to 6-3 lifetime when facing elimination.

"They deserved to win," Nets head coach Lawrence Frank said. "Now we have to go home and defend our turf."

New Jersey still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, and hosts Game 6 goes Friday at the Meadowlands (7 p.m. ET).

"We are going to need these couple of days in between games," Mitchell said. "We have got some guys banged up."

Carter led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the floor for the sixth-seeded Nets.

Richard Jefferson scored 23 points, followed by Jason Kidd with 11 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

"They did not go away quietly," Mitchell said.

Had the Raptors suffered their third straight loss and been eliminated, it would have tainted an otherwise splendid season in which Bosh solidified his status as an all-star, Bargnani proved worthy of being drafted first overall, and the backcourt duo of Ford and Calderon was surprisingly productive and endlessly entertaining.

The Raptors equalled the franchise high with 47 wins and captured their first division title, with Mitchell being named coach of the year.

"It took everything and it took everybody," Mitchell said.

Late lead shrinks rapidly

Toronto took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter, only to watch it shrink rapidly to seven points on a baseline jump shot from Jefferson.

But Calderon replied with six straight points on two jumpers and a left-handed layup to make it 85-71 with 8:45 on the clock.

Kidd and Carter struck back with jumpers and Jefferson's layin capped a 6-0 spurt that tightened it to 85-79 with 7:18 to go.

A Carter putback cut the deficit to four points, but Bosh nailed two free throws to restore it to six.

Jefferson then scored on a mid-range jumper and a running one-hander to make it 87-85 with 5:25 left.

Peterson provided a little breathing room with four free throws, but Kidd scored a three-point basket on the next possession.

After Parker extended Toronto's advantage to 95-88 with a turnaround jumper and two free throws, Bosh finally slowed the Nets with a defensive block on Carter, but missed a reverse, two-handed slam dunk at the other end.
 
Carter then sank a free throw and Bosh was called for goaltending as New Jersey closed to within four points at 95-91 with 50 seconds left.

Kidd stripped Calderon of the basketball on Toronto's next trip down the floor and Carter capitalized with a three-pointer to make it 95-94.

Bosh swished two free throws, but Mikki Moore kept it close with a putback and 16.8 seconds remaining.

Another Bosh free throw produced the final margin of victory, but not before Bostjan Nachbar smacked a desperation jumper off the rim as time expired.

"Vince did a great job sucking in the defence," Nachbar said. "I had a wide open shot and missed it, it is as simple as that.

"It was a big play. They showed trust in me and I screwed up."

Strong start for Toronto

Toronto enjoyed one of its finest first quarters this season, building up a 33-13 lead on a blistering 64.7 per cent shooting and committing just one turnover.

New Jersey, by comparison, shot 26.3 per cent and turned the ball over five times.

Calderon highlighted a 15-0 Raptors run with a determined jump shot over Kidd, and Bargnani capped it with a three-pointer to make it 20-6 with 4:30 left.

After Carter responded with a jumper, Parker sank three consecutive free throws to put Toronto ahead 23-8 with less than four minutes to go.

Bargnani closed out the quarter with a trey with 29.7 seconds left, but Ford sustained a stinger on the play when Carter fell on him and did not return.

"We dug ourselves such a huge hole in the first quarter," Frank said.

When Bosh spent nine minutes on the bench with two fouls, the Nets trimmed the deficit to 13 points at 40-27, but he returned five minutes into the second quarter and promptly buried a baseline jumper to make it 42-27.

"They paid a lot of attention to me, so that freed [Calderon] up," Bosh said.

Calderon kept pushing the ball up court, combining with Peterson on a 2-on-1 break and slashing through several defenders for a driving layup that put the Raptors ahead 48-33.

Peterson nailed a three-pointer to make it 53-37 with less than four minutes left, and Bargnani blocked Antoine Wright at the buzzer as Toronto led 59-42 at halftime.

Bargnani led all scorers at the break with 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting, while Calderon had 14 points, five assists and zero turnovers. 

"We were just on our heels," Kidd said. "They came out loose and they made every shot."

Carter managed just 10 points for New Jersey, which shot 38.7 per cent in the first half compared to Toronto's 61.1 per cent.

The former Raptors superstar tried to assert himself in the third quarter, bringing the Nets back to within nine at 69-60 on a running jumper with 4:11 left.

But Peterson and Calderon offset Carter's seven-point spurt by combining for seven consecutive points and extending Toronto's lead to 77-63.

After Parker hit a turnaround jumper, Carter tallied the final four points of the quarter to slice it to 79-67 through three.

With files from Sports Network