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Carter, Kidd come up big in second half

Apr 1, 2007 - 3:58 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Vince Carter and Jason Kidd struggled in the first half. It was a different story in the second.

Hampered by foul trouble and a sore knee, Carter scored 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter as the New Jersey Nets notched an 86-82 victory of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Carter played only seven minutes in the first half as he was saddled with three fouls. He also was slowed by a right knee injury suffered in Friday's 110-105 loss at Detroit.

"It was sore in the beginning," Carter said of his knee. "I felt a step slow out there, but once I got going it felt all right. ... I didn't do much in the first half, so I wanted to put my mark on the game."

Kidd also got off to an extremely slow start, scoring just two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first half. His lone basket of the half came with under a 60 seconds left.

But Kidd got things in gear in the second half, when he scored 10 points. The star point guard also finished with eight assists and five steals.

Richard Jefferson added 14 points for New Jersey (34-39), which tied idle Orlando for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey shot just 39 percent (13-of-31) in the first half, which ended with them in a 39-34 hole.

"It was extremely ugly in the first (half)," Jefferson said. "We were playing good defense, but we struggled offensively. It was the opposite of last night when we scored a lot of points early, but couldn't stop anyone."

"We would like to play a perfect game," Carter said. "But at this point it's about doing(whatever it takes to win)."

Also battling foul trouble, Andre Iguodala scored 14 points to pace the Sixers (29-44), who fell five games behind the Nets and Magic.

"I just couldn't hit any shots and couldn't get anything going," said Iguodala, who was 5-of-12 from the floor. "I was in foul trouble. They just played a good game."

Andre Miller added 14 points and 12 assists for the Sixers, who made just 11-of-22 free throws.

Carter was held scoreless in the second quarter, but heated up in the third quarter. His 3-pointer at the 5:59 mark tied the game at 49-49. Mikki Moore's three-point play with 4:08 left in the period snapped a 51-51 tie, and gave the Nets the lead for good.

The Nets took control for good with a 14-3 surge in the fourth quarter. Kidd made all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer to cap the burst, making it 75-62 with 6:09 remaining.

Lawrence Frank picked up his 150th win to pass Byron Scott (149-139) for the most in franchise history. Scott took the Nets to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.