CLEVELAND - They had overcome numerous injuries, trade rumors and talk of an eventual breakup for months. So with their season on the line, the New Jersey Nets did what they've always done.

Survived.

"This has been the makeup of this team," Jason Kidd said. "We were counted out."

On Wednesday night, they got up off the mat again.

Kidd scored 20 points and the Nets delayed an early summer vacation with an ugly 83-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to pull to 3-2 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

Doomed by an inability to execute down the stretch in this series, the Nets built a 22-point lead in the third quarter and then hung on for dear life -- scoring just six points in the fourth quarter -- to force a Game 6 on Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

"It goes back to the All-Star break," Kidd said. "No one thought we were going to make the playoffs. We all believe in one another and support each other in good times and bad."

How the Nets won was nothing short of a miracle.

New Jersey made one field goal in the fourth quarter on 1-of-15 shooting. The Nets also were only 4-of-10 from the free- throw line in the final 12 minutes, with Kidd missing five in the last 56 seconds.

"The fourth quarter wasn't pretty," Kidd said. "Both teams were on fire defensively, not on the offensive side."

Cleveland, which blew a chance to close out a series for the first time at Quicken Loans Arena, wasn't much better in the fourth, shooting just 3-of-17 and scoring 13 points. The Cavs played the last 56 seconds without LeBron James, who hurt his right knee while scrambling for a loose ball with Kidd.

James' knee isn't his only worry. His girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, who is expecting the couple's second child next month, required medical attention and was taken to a hospital at halftime.

"I think she's OK," James said. "From the little information I have, she's doing fine."

Richard Jefferson added 15 points, Mikki Moore 14, Bostjan Nachbar 13 and Vince Carter 12 points with 10 assists for the Nets. Carter took only 11 shots, one game after going 6-of-23 and making a costly turnover in the final seconds of Game 4.

"I took what the defense gave me and made plays," Carter said. "I didn't want to force anything."

James led the Cavaliers with 20 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16, but Larry Hughes gave Cleveland next to nothing, going 3-of-17 from the floor.

"I laid an egg, there's no two ways about it," said Hughes, was booed by the sellout crowd. "I can't go out there and play like that and expect us to win."

Down 77-59 entering the fourth, the Cavs, trying to get to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1992, upped their defensive pressure and trimmed New Jersey's lead to 79-70 on a 3-pointer by Hughes -- a basket that drew a loud but somewhat sarcastic cheer from Cleveland's crowd.

But the Cavaliers couldn't come all the way back.

"I still feel upbeat, we're still up 3-2," James said. "It's just basketball for me. I've got a family to worry about. We've won in New Jersey, and we've got an opportunity to do it again."