Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) and Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson (15) defend against Brooklyn Nets guard Shaun Livingston (14) in the second half of game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY, April 27, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

The Toronto Raptors snatched a crucial win on the road as they outlasted the Brooklyn Nets 87-79 Sunday in Game 4 of the first-round series of the NBA playoffs here.

The best-of-seven series was tied on 2-2 with Game 5 to be moved back to the Raptors homecourt.

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had 24 and 22 points apiece for the Raptors, which almost squandered a 17-point lead.

Amir Johnson, who scored 11 out of 17 points in the first quarter, heralded the Raptors to a 35-22 lead at the beginning, when the visitors led as many as 15 points.

All the Nets did in the second quarter was to make up the big hole and they succeeded to usurp the lead for the first time in the game at the start of the third quarter, when they kicked off a 8-0 run to make it 52-51.

The game was balanced after that and both teams shot badly to tie it 67-all at the end of the third quarter.

The Nets had their last lead on 77-73 with almost six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but failed to make one field shot in the last half quarter. Kevin Garnett scored the only two points from free-throws for the Nets during that period when the Raptors ran away by 14-2 to close the win.

Paul Pierce had 22 points but Joe Johnson, who had 29 points in Game 3, was held to seven points on Sunday.