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. Travis Shaw Jersey . The Mets made the announcement Sunday night. Parnell blew a save on opening day against Washington and the next day it was revealed he had partially torn right elbow ligament. Christian Yelich Brewers Jersey . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/1779y-hank-...ey-brewers.html. Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting. Bud Selig Brewers Jersey . During the furious first few hours of free agency Tuesday, the team agreed to terms with strong safety Donte Whitner, a Cleveland native who cant wait to play in his hometown. Chase Anderson Brewers Jersey .com) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mat Latos had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right elbow last week, the teams official site reported Wednesday.TORONTO -- Construction of six venues for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games is running behind schedule, including a new Hamilton stadium, a key venue thats now expected to be finished in September. The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. "I havent heard from the Tiger-Cats about the Tiger-Cats making an announcement. At the end of the day its the same sort of thing like here," said CFL commissioner Mark Cohon from Ottawa prior to the Redblacks home opener. "Look at whats going to be here at the end of the day. Look at whats going to be in Hamilton at the end of the day: A world-class facility thats going to be not just for the next generation of fans but the next generation after that. People are going to be blown away by that facility when its ready as well. Its taking a little bit of time but people are going to be really happy with it when its done." Completion dates for the Toronto track and field centre, a facility in Markham, the equestrian park in Caledon and the shooting centre in Cookstown have all been pushed back by a month or two. The ballpark in Ajax was supposed to be completed by July, but phase two of the project is now expected to be finished in November. However, all the venues are expected to be ready well before the Games begin next July. "We had a significantly difficult winter this past go-around, and I think you would understand the ball park being a challenge when youre trying to put a playing field in when youve got frozen ground," Murray Noble, TO2015s senior vice-president of infrastructure, said Friday. "So some of those projects were truly to do with the weather." The final phase of the Caledon equestrian park was pushed back from December 2014 to February 2015 to make it easier for the right contractors to bid on it, he added. "All of our projects continue to be tracking very well for completion before the end of the year here, and certainly well within the time frames before the Games," he said. Noble said he couldnt provide an exact date for the completion of the Hamilton stadium, saying the question should be directed to Infrastructure Ontario. Infrastructure Ontario says it aims to hold a meeting at the end of the month to evaluate the status of stadium construction, which is currently more than 85 per cent complete. Ontarios governing Liberals have been under fire for the stadium setback, but say taxpayers wont be on the hook for any cost overruns. But the Ticats are taking a financial hit for every game they cant play in the new stadium, said New Democrat Paul Miller, who represents a Hamilton riding. The team will have to use Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University, which has 6,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 6,000. Tim Hortons Field would have 22,500 permanent seats and a potential capacity of 40,000 through temporary seating. The province gave Hamilton $22.5 million for the stadium, which isnt part of the Pan Am budget. "Whos going to cover that cost?" said Miller. "The citty of Hamilton? Infrastructure Ontario? The Pan Am committee?" TO2015 CEO Saad Rafi said questions about whether there would be any compensation for the Ticats would best be answered by Infrastructure Ontario.ddddddddddddThe Crown corporation wasnt immediately available for comment. "Somebodys going to have to compensate them and at the end of the day, I think we all know that its going to be the taxpayers that are on the hook for this," said Progressive Conservative Todd Smith. Bad weather should be factored into such big projects, he said. The government should just admit publicly that preparations for the Games wont be finished on time or on budget. But TO2015 said that the overall capital building program for the Games is still in line with their budget. It spent $92.8 million in the quarter ending March 31, including $66 million on venue construction during the three months ending March 31, the organizing committee said Friday in its fourth-quarter financial report. Venue construction spending is $387 million so far, about 53 per cent of the total original capital budget of $730 million, it said. It includes $83.5 million for the Hamilton stadium, $148.4 million for an aquatics and field house and $24.8 million on an athletics stadium in Toronto and $53.9 million for the Markham centre, which will host badminton, table tennis and water polo competitions. Operating expenses during the quarter were $26.8 million, mostly spent in the areas of corporate, technology, transportation, events and ceremonies and community and cultural affairs, it said. Corporations have also put in an "incremental $43 million in value" worth of in-kind sponsorships for delivery of the Games, the committee said. TO2015 said it has spent $126.9 million to date, about 15.7 per cent of its total operations budget of $810 million. It reported $4,159 in travel and hospitality expenses for the quarter, bringing the total since last July to $23,136. Rafi said the Games are expected to create 26,000 job and 84 per cent of the funding spent to procure goods and services has gone to Canadian companies. The Games will take place at 34 different competition venues across the Golden Horseshoe, from Niagara in the south to Orillia in the north, running from July 7 to 26, followed by the Parapan Am Games Aug. 7 to 15. The Liberals have also been criticized for the cost of security for the Games, admitting that the original $113 million built into the Pan Am budget was just a best guess and it may climb above the latest estimate of $239 million. TO2015 said it couldnt provide the latest figures, saying it was in the hands of the Pan/Parapan Am Games Integrated Security Unit. The report glosses over the construction delays, inflates the number of jobs that will be created and doesnt mention the amount of money that will be spent on security or transportation, Miller said. "Every time (the Liberals) talk about it, they talk about the positive side of it," Miller said. "And thats fine, but they dont talk about the hidden negative side and they dont want the public to know that." The total budget for the Games, including security, transportation and the athletes village is currently estimated at $2.5 billion. ' ' '