TORONTO – It looked like a laugher. It turned into a nail-biter.

Jose Calderon scored a career-high 25 points and Andrea Bargnani added 18 as the Toronto Raptors rebounded from two double-digit losses to stave off elimination and beat the New Jersey Nets 98-96 on Tuesday night.

“It took everything and it took everybody,” Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. “They didn’t go away quietly.”

Toronto point guards T.J. Ford and Calderon were both hurt in Tuesday’s game and the extent of the injuries wasn’t known.

The Raptors led by as many as 17 points in the second half but the Nets got within one in the final minute when Calderon rolled his ankle and lost the ball to Jason Kidd. Vince Carter then hit a 3-pointer to make it 95-94 with 27.6 seconds remaining.

Two free throws by Toronto’s Chris Bosh and a putback from Mikki Moore of the Nets made it 97-96. Bosh was fouled again but made just one of two, giving the Nets a chance to tie or go for the win. Carter drove to the basket but Juan Dixon’s defense forced him to give up the ball and Bostjan Nachbar’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.

The Raptors said Calderon may have sprained an ankle and he was to undergo tests.

Ford left the game shortly after colliding with Carter with less than 30 seconds to play in the first quarter. Ford, who suffered what team officials called a “stinger,” was taken to a hospital for tests. He returned to the arena and was sitting on the bench late in the fourth quarter. Tests showed no serious problems, but Ford still complained of soreness after the game.

Starting for the first time in the series, Bargnani scored Toronto’s first seven points of the game. He made all six of his field goal attempts and all three of his free throws in the first half.

Mavs 118, Warriors 112

DALLAS – Don’t count out the Dallas Mavericks just yet, no matter how tempting they’re making it.

After letting a 21-point lead turn into a nine-point deficit in the closing minutes, Dirk Nowitzki came alive with consecutive 3-pointers to start a game-ending 15-0 run that carried the Mavericks past the Golden State Warriors 118-112 Tuesday night. That guaranteed the NBA’s best regular-season team at least one more game in the playoffs.

Golden State led 112-103 on a lunging 3-pointer by Baron Davis with 3:19 left that looked to be the knockout punch for one of the most stunning upsets in NBA history. Yet that’s when Nowitzki picked Dallas up off the mat, the way the league’s likely MVP is supposed to do – but something he’d yet to do all series.

Nowitzki scored 12 points the rest of the way, hitting the two 3s and went 6-of-7 from the foul line.

The Warriors helped the collapse by missing their final eight shots.

AP-ES-05-02-07 0041EDT