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Nets finally win a close one, edge Hawks

Feb 8, 2007 - 2:52 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Vince Carter made the most of a second chance to come through against the Atlanta Hawks.

Carter scored three points in the final eight seconds and the Nets found a way to win a close game instead of giving it away with an 87-85 victory over the Hawks.

Carter and the Nets have made a habit of losing close games lately, including a 101-99 overtime loss at home to the Hawks on Sunday. Carter missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer in Sunday's loss but came through this time to help New Jersey exact a measure of revenge and snap their four-game skid.

Atlanta led, 85-84, with 14 seconds left. The Hawks took the lead on a follow by Joe Johnson off of his own missed shot. He battled Jason Kidd for the rebound and both players appeared to get a piece of the ball.

New Jersey responded by clearing out for Carter, who started a drive at the top of the key and powered down the right side of the lane past Johnson for a layup to make it 86-85 with 7.6 seconds to play.

Carter scored 22 points and added nine rebounds for the Nets, who had lost seven of its last nine contests - with five of the seven losses over that stretch coming by two points or less.

Carter scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for New Jersey.

After Carter's layup, Atlanta ran a disorganized set off a timeout. Josh Childress got the ball back after throwing an inbound pass and passed to Jeremy Richardson in the corner. Richardson, who signed his second 10-day contract with Atlanta earlier in the day, missed a jumper and Carter was fouled after pulling down the rebound with 0.1 on the clock.

Johnson scored 37 points in Sunday's win in New Jersey but he was held in check in this one, scoring 10 points and shooting 5-of-16 from the field. Josh Smith had 20 points and nine rebounds but fouled out with four minutes left in the game.