Richard Jefferson saved the New Jersey Nets from another trip to Toronto -- and sent them instead to the second round.

Jefferson made the go-ahead basket with 8.3 seconds left, stole a pass on the next possession, and New Jersey beat the Raptors, 98-97, last night at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., to win this Eastern Conference first-round series, 4-2.

After underachieving for most of the season, the Nets put it together down the stretch and head to Cleveland for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tomorrow.

"We're just a confident group," Jefferson said. "I wouldn't say that we felt we're as good as anybody, we just feel that if we're healthy, we can compete with anyone. That's not saying we can beat anyone, I said we can compete with anyone. That means if we do the things that we need to do, if we execute the way we execute and stay healthy, our record shows where we are and where our place is."

Jason Kidd finished with 18 points, 15 assists and 8 rebounds for the Nets, averaging a triple-double for the series. Jefferson scored 24 points and Vince Carter added 21 despite shooting 6 of 19 from the field.

Chris Bosh had 23 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds for the Atlantic Division champion Raptors. But Jose Calderon's pass to him was intercepted by Jefferson, sending the Raptors to their ninth consecutive road postseason loss.

After four dismal games in New Jersey this season, Bosh was terrific this time, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter. He banked in a jumper with 47 seconds left, giving the Raptors a 97-96 lead.

But after a timeout, Jefferson drove into the lane and rose over Bosh for his layup. The Raptors then tried to find Bosh cutting to the basket, but Jefferson came away with Calderon's pass and put the Nets back into the conference semifinals. They lost to Miami in that round last year.

Note

NBA commissioner David Stern criticized a study regarding racial bias among league officials and The New York Times for printing it, saying racism "doesn't exist in the NBA." Stern said of the report: "My major concern about it is that it's wrong." Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and Joseph Price, a Cornell graduate student in economics, found that white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players. The study, conducted over a 13-year span through 2004, was based on information from publicly available box scores, which show only the referees' names and contain no information about which official made a call.