(REUTERS) — The New Jersey Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks at the perimeter game, then hit their foul shots for a change Tuesday night.
Richard Jefferson had 17 points and a career-best 16 rebounds, and the Nets made 11 of 12 free throws in the final 2:35 to beat the Bucks 89-82 for a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Jason Kidd added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Kerry Kittles had 15 points for the defending Eastern Conference champions. The Nets can clinch the best-of-seven series by winning Thursday in Milwaukee or Saturday in New Jersey if the Bucks force a deciding Game 7.
Toni Kukoc had 18 points and Sam Cassell and Gary Payton added 16 apiece for Milwaukee.
The game had a little ugliness at the end when Cassell and Kenyon Martin, who scored just nine points in a foul-plagued night, engaged in a shoving match.
But that’s just the way the game was played.
Martin’s foul problems forced the Nets to use a three-guard offense at times. It worked to perfection in the fourth quarter when Kittles hit three 3-pointers, the last for a 74-71 lead with 6:21 to play.
Milwaukee got within a point twice down the stretch as both teams struggled to score.
Desmond Mason’s two free throws cut the Nets’ lead to 76-75 with 3:48 to go. The next points weren’t scored until Collins hit two free throws with 2:35 left, and that started a run of six straight points from the foul line.
New Jersey lost Game 4 in overtime because it missed nine of 13 free throws in the final four minutes.
This time, New Jersey hit 10 straight and Kidd made a tough shot in the lane with just over a minute to go to put it away.
The Nets went 5-for-7 and got a 3-pointer from Lucious Harris in an 8-2 run late in the third quarter to take a 61-57.
However, New Jersey squandered the lead in the final 3.7 seconds, allowing Payton to score on a layup and sending Michael Redd to the foul line for two shots after a turnover on the inbounds play.
Despite hitting one of their first 11 shots and having Martin pick up three fouls and only five points, the Nets led 44-38 at the half.
The key for New Jersey was using the small lineup, which not only scored but did an outstanding job playing perimeter defense. Kidd and fellow guards Harris and Kittles were joined on the floor by Jefferson and center Jason Collins.
The odd lineup closed the half with a 16-8 spurt. Kidd had two three-point plays in the run and Jefferson scored five points, including another three-point play.
Jefferson finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the half.
With Martin out of the game, the Bucks seemed to rush things in the second quarter, going 5-of-18 from the field.
Game notes
There was a problem with the clock in the opening minute after referee Joe Crawford inadvertently started it after a foul call. It took about three minutes for the problem to be straightened out, but the flow was taken out of the game and no one ever seemed to get it back. … Martin missed the Nets shootaround Tuesday morning with an upset stomach. … T.J. Kidd, Jason’s 4-year-old son who broke a collarbone when his father fell on him in Game 2, sat behind the Nets’ bench in the first quarter and returned to his normal courtside seat the rest of the game. … Crawford had a short fuse and called five straight technical fouls. Jim Capers broke the streak, calling one on Bucks coach George Karl late in the third quarter.
