BROOKLYN 107 TORONTO 100
The Brooklyn Nets baptized their new Barclays Center home with a 107-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday as the first major professional sports team in 55 years to call Brooklyn their home.
The Nets led by 13 points in the third quarter, but had to hold off the Raptors, who closed within 97-95 with 65 seconds left before a three-point play by Brook Lopez gave Brooklyn the necessary cushion in their first game of the season.
Centre Lopez led the Nets with 27 points, while Kyle Lowry scored 28 points and DeMar DeRozan had 25 for Toronto, who fell to 0-2 after an opening home loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The Nets, who moved to Brooklyn from New Jersey, had been scheduled to play their home opener on Thursday against cross-city rivals the Knicks, but the game was postponed because of the crisis following superstorm Sandy.
Nets All-Star guard Deron Williams thanked the crowd for turning out given the hardships and destruction wrought by the storm .
Overcoming a slow start with Toronto leading by eight after the first quarter, the Nets turned on the jets in the second to outscore them 33-17 for a 60-52 halftime lead and extended it to double digits before the Raptors turned it into a nail-biter at the finish.
