It wasn’t easy, but the Nets prevailed.

New Jersey defeated host Indiana last night 96-90 to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals where they will face No. 2 seeded Miami.

The “Big Three” had another fabulous game as swingman Richard Jefferson led the Nets with 30 points. Guard Vince Carter added 24 points and point guard Jason Kidd almost had a triple double as he scored eight points, ripped down 12 rebounds and dished 11 assists.

The 7-foot Nenad Krstic overcame early foul trouble to finish with another strong performance. He scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter; including two free throws with 14.9 seconds to give the Nets a 94-90 lead and essentially put the game away.

The resilient Pacers hung around all game and kept the score close. Forward Jermaine O’Neal paced Indiana with 21 points, but the big story was the emergence of point guard Anthony Johnson.

Kidd’s former backup finished with a career-high 40 points to lead Indiana. Johnson averaged a personal best 9.2 points per game this season, but only averages 5.8 for his career.

However, he emerged as a big-time contributor for the Pacers as he averaged 20.0 points, 5.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds in the playoffs.

New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank said he was proud of his former player’s performance.

"He's got a tremendous work ethic," Frank told reporters after the game. "It's good to see that when you work your tail off, it pays off."

The Pacers, once again, played without Peja Stojakovic. He is suffering from a sore knee and only played in two of the six games this series. The injury-plagued Pacers put up a good fight, but ultimately didn’t have enough firepower to upset the Nets.

"We knew going in that this wasn't a six seed," Frank told reporters after the game. "We were fortunate that Peja was only able to play in two games. We were under no illusion that this wasn't going to be a hard-fought series that was going to go down to the wire."

The Nets took a 92-87 lead in the fourth quarter when Carter blew by O’Neal for a layup with 1:07 remaining. However, Johnson drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 92-90.

After a Carter miss, the Pacers had the opportunity to take the lead. But Johnson missed a jumper and O’Neal missed the put back. Krstic then nailed down two free throws to halt a potential comeback.

The Nets will move on to face Miami in the semi-finals. Even though the Heat are led by Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade, the Nets managed to defeat them three out of the four times they faced each other this season.

Since the Heat hold a higher seed, they get the home court advantage. The semi-finals schedule is still to be determined.