NEW YORK -- Plagued by foul trouble in the first three quarters, Paul Pierce came up big down the stretch for the Brooklyn Nets. Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston each scored 18 points and an ailing Pierce hit a key late 3-pointer to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 101-97 victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors on Monday night. Pierce scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Joe Johnson added 14 for the Nets, who won their season-high eighth straight at home. Brooklyn moved three games behind Toronto in the Atlantic. The 35-year-old, who had been battling through a "stinger" in his right shoulder felt fine during the morning after receiving treatment and admitted that he wasnt expecting to play but he couldnt pass up on the opportunity Brooklyn had to close the gap in the division standings. "I knew the implications of this game. Maybe if it was a different type of game, (I sit out)," Pierce said. "But this was one of our biggest games of the year. Division rival, a lot on the line tonight, so you can always pen me in with those type of games." Pierce was all over the floor in the final 12 minutes of the game, hitting a pair of shots beyond the arc, making four free throws and stealing the ball twice. The victory was critical for the Nets, who lost to Toronto last time they played, on Jan. 27, after Williams turned the ball over on an inbounds play with 12 seconds left and Patrick Patterson hit the eventual game-winner with 6 seconds left on the clock. "This was a big game. It give us the split," Williams said. "We didnt want them to get three up on us in case of tiebreakers. We gained a full game on them. That much closer to catching them." The Nets next big test comes on the road as they go for a season-series sweep over the two-time defending world champion Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Kyle Lowry scored 21 points to lead Toronto, which had won three straight and nine of its previous 11. Tyler Hansbrough and Amir Johnson added 16 points each. The Nets played their sixth straight game without Kevin Garnett, who was in the starting lineup but was scratched minutes before tip-off. Nets coach Jason Kidd said the 38-year-old veteran, who has been bother by back spasms, "tightened up, so we pulled the plug on him". Brooklyn also missed Andrei Kirilenko, who was out because of a sprained right ankle. The Nets trailed 94-92 after Lowry split the defence in the lane for a lay-up with 2:15 left. Brooklyn then answered with five straight points as Andray Blatches reverse lay-up tied the score at 94 and Pierce followed with his 3 with 1:14 left despite Lowrys attempt to block the shot. Brooklyns small lineup gave the Raptors trouble. "Their lineup is funky, man. When you have Paul Pierce at the 4, it is tough to guard," Lowry said. "Amir is an unbelievable defender but he is also our help guy and sometimes it is tough for him to get back out. I mean, Paul made a 3 over me and I was literally on him, in which I could smack him in the face." DeMar DeRozan then beat Livingston to the basket but was fouled and made two free throws to pull to 97-96 with 1:03 to go. On Brooklyns next possession, Williams drove to the lane but his shot was blocked by Johnson, setting the stage for a go-ahead or game-tying shot. However, Terrence Ross lost control of the ball and Pierce came up with the steal. Livingston hit two free throws to extend the Nets lead to 99-96 with 22.8 seconds left. Lowry had a chance to tie with a 3 but missed. Blatche was then fouled with 6.5 seconds left and was only able to hit the second free throws to push the lead to four points. As the Raptors proceeded to move the ball up the court, Lowry was fouled. He hit the first shot to make it 100-97 with 5.2 left. He purposely missed the second one but was called for a lane violation. Pierce, who exited Sunday nights game in the first quarter with 10:45 left due to a sore right shoulder, then hit two free throws to seal the win and even the season series between both teams at two games apiece. The matchup between Toronto and Brooklyn, who are in third and sixth place, respectively, in the Eastern Conference, had a playoff atmosphere to it with the home crowd at the Barclays Center on its feet once Pierce hit that 3-pointer. In the long run, it would definitely help Raptors coach Dwane Caseys inexperienced post-season squad. "Again, it was playoff type of basketball with physicality. Ive said it forever that we have to get ready to play that style of basketball", he said. "We had three big time turnovers because they got into us at the end of the game." Brooklyn trailed 30-19 at the end of the opening period but had a strong second quarter, pulling to 51-50 at the half. Down 60-59 after a tip-in shot by Jonas Valaciunas in the third quarter, Johnson and Williams each hit two 3-pointers to spark Brooklyn on a 14-0 run, leading 73-60 with 4:28 left. But the Raptors answered with an 11-0 run over the next 3 minutes, capped by two free throws from Hansbrough. NOTES: Kidd said the Nets will re-evaluate Garnett on Tuesday. Rookie Mason Plumlee started in Garnetts place and had six points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. Theyre 5-1 in Garnetts absence. . Brooklyn last won eight straight at Barclays Center back on Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 28, 2013. . The Nets 22-9 record since Jan. 1 is tops in the East. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night. Fake Football Jerseys From China . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/ .J. -- Kyle Palmieri thrilled his personal rooting section with an overtime winner that sent the Anaheim Ducks to their seventh straight win. Fake Football Jerseys . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Wholesale Football Jerseys China . The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said.NEW ORLEANS - Tyreke Evans wasnt about to let his recent shooting slump limit his aggression. Certainly not with the reeling New York Knicks in town.Evans scored 27 points, Anthony Davis added 18, and the New Orleans Pelicans dropped the Knicks to their ninth straight loss, 104-93 on Tuesday night.I knew it was going to come, said Evans, who shot 33 per cent during his previous three games, but made 11 of 15 shots against New York. A few games (were) sluggish, but I felt good tonight just attacking the basket, staying with it and staying aggressive.Omer Asik had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 13 points for New Orleans (10-10), which won its second straight to pull back to .500.Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 26 points and blocked five shots. Carmelo Anthony had 17 points for New York, which kept the game close into the fourth quarter before fading down the stretch, as the Knicks have done often this season.We battled. I keep saying that but we did battle tonight, Stoudemire said. We let that game slip away. We had a chance to win. We should have won the game. It seems to be a broken record after every game, but weve just got to be mindful of wanting to win and playing to win. We cant play not to lose.Pablo Prigioni scored 17 for the Knicks, who fell to 4-19 with what was also their 10th straight road loss.No team has more losses than the Knicks. Only Detroit has as many. There were even some fans in Knicks jerseys wearing brown paper grocery bags over their heads, as fans of the Aints once did in the Superdome next door when the Saints were at their worst.I could never imagine that coming into this season, Anthony said. Its hard to believe it at this point.Anthony attempted only 11 shots, fewer than usual, but said he could not take more with the Pelicans routinely throwing double- and even triple-teams at him.Evans scored eight points in the last 3:05 to keep the Knicks at bay. He began his decisive surge with a layup to finish off a fast break that began when Davis swatted away J.R. Smiths driving shot in the paint.That was the last of thhree crowd-pleasing blocks for Davis, who also cleanly disrupted Samuel Dalemberts dunk attempt from behind the Knicks reserve centre.ddddddddddddWe just know we wanted to get this win and get back to .500, Davis said. It kind of was a must-win for us, but at the same time we just stuck with our principles and tried to play hard.New York was as close as 77-73 after Smiths 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter. Then New Orleans scored the first six points of the fourth quarter on Holidays three-point play as he was fouled on a drive by Stoudemire, and Austin Rivers 3-pointer.The Pelicans shot 50 per cent (40 of 80) and dominated the interior, handily outrebounding New York, 43-30, and outscoring the Knicks 54-40 in the paint.You just shake your head at that, Anthony said. That was the game right there, points in the paint.New York attempted only 13 free throws and made 10, while the Pelicans were 20 of 26 on free throws.TIP-INSKnicks: New York had won its previous five games in New Orleans. ... The Knicks, who play Wednesday night in San Antonio, are 0-6 on the front end of back-to-back games.Pelicans: Davis was assessed a flagrant foul in the first half for elbowing Smith near his throat in the second quarter. Smith made one of the two free throws to give New York a 43-42 lead. ... New Orleans hadnt won consecutive games since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 12 and Minnesota on Nov. 14. ... The Pelicans are 6-2 at home.AILING ANTHONYAnthony said a left knee injury that has been bothering him much of this season isnt getting better and hes not sure yet whether itll ultimately cause him to sit out more games, perhaps as early as Wednesday night in San Antonio.At this point its a matter of evaluating it and see. Some days are better than others, Anthony said. At this point its just a matter of sitting down with the training staff and coaches and seeing whats best for everybody. ... Theyre going to have to pull me out because Im not going to make that decision.UP NEXTKnicks: Visit San Antonio on Wednesday.Pelicans: Visit Dallas on Wednesday. ' ' '