Toronto ? The Toronto Raptors celebrated with Sam Mitchell, then went out and played like him.

Toronto's Chris Bosh (4) drives past New Jersey's Josh Boone. Bosh scored 25 points in the Raptors' 89-83 victory Tuesday in Toronto.

After starting the night with an award ceremony for their coach of the year, the Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 89-83 Tuesday to even their first-round series at a game apiece.

“He wasn’t the prettiest player but he got the job done and that’s kind of how the playoffs are,” forward Chris Bosh said. “You just have to get the job done, no matter what happens.”

Anthony Parker scored 26 points and Bosh added 25 points and 13 rebounds in Toronto’s first playoff victory since a 94-84 home win over Detroit on April 27, 2002. It came hours after Mitchell was honored as the NBA’s coach of the year for leading the Raptors to a 20-win improvement and their first Atlantic Division title.

“We definitely turned a corner as a team tonight because we gutted it out, especially when things weren’t going well,” Parker said.

“This was a game we had to have. We couldn’t go to Jersey down 0-2. Now we’ve got to go to Jersey and get one.”

New Jersey’s Bostjan Nachbar missed a three-pointer from the corner that would have tied the game with 8 seconds to play. Game 3 will be Friday night in New Jersey.

“We felt very confident coming down the stretch that we could win this game, but unfortunately we didn’t,” New Jersey guard Jason Kidd said. “We’re not disappointed. We came up here to win Game 2 and we gave our best effort.”

Mitchell said he was touched when his players joined him at center court for the pregame award ceremony with commissioner David Stern.

“None of this could have happened without those 15 guys in the locker room,” Mitchell said. “The best part other than winning the basketball game was the presentation when those guys came out, because we really care about each other. I work them hard but they also know how much I care about them.”

Bosh said the gesture was a sign of team unity.

“He dedicated that award to everyone,” Bosh said. “He knows and we know that it takes a team. If you do team things well, individual recognition comes along with it.”

T.J. Ford scored 13 points for the Raptors, including four key free throws in the final minute. Parker also made three free throws in the final 8 seconds.