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Carter, Kidd notch remarkable feat as Nets top Wizards

Apr 8, 2007 - 5:29 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Antawn Jamison tried to save the shorthanded Washington Wizards. But Vince Carter and Jason Kidd were too much to overcome.

Carter and Kidd became the first teammates in 18 years to record a triple-double in the same game as the Nets posted a dramatic 120-114 overtime victory over Jamison and the injury-riddled Wizards.

Carter collected a season high-tying 46 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 10 assists and Kidd had 10 points, a season-best 16 rebounds and tied a season high with 18 assists. The two superstars became the first teammates to notch the feat since Chicago's Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen 18 years ago.

"You can't beat that. That's nice company," Carter said. "For me, I just try to do whatever the team needs. I just wanted to help out with the boards and make plays and guys were hitting shots."

"Vince was off the charts tonight," Kidd said. "He made all the right plays. That's what Vince does, filling up the stat sheet. I wish I could have a triple-double like that with 46 points. He was great tonight, and we're going to need that from this point on."

Jamison came up big for Washington, which was without injured All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. He scored a season-high 37 points and nailed an off-balance 3-pointer with one second left in regulation after the Nets failed to foul him.

"It was just a breakdown, we had the intention to foul him when he caught it," Kidd said. "(Nets center Jason Collins) thought it was my job to foul and there was just no way I could get there."

"For us to play a game like this and be able to do the things we needed to do to get it to overtime, it's a credit to our guys," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "We're playing hard, we're executing the way we want to play."

Kidd's errant lob pass to Carter went off the rim as time expired, but New Jersey scored the first eight points of overtime, led by Richard Jefferson, who made four free throws during that span and matched a season high with 27 points.

Carter secured his third career triple-double when he assisted on a 3-pointer by Clifford Robinson with 75 seconds left in overtime. It was also the 17th 3-pointer of the game for the Nets, eclipsing the previous franchise record set against Washington on February 27.

Kidd made just 4-of-12 shots from the floor but finished off the 86th triple-double of his career on a free throw with just 21 seconds remaining. He has a career-high 11 triple-doubles this season, while Carter notched his first since February 4, 2006.

"I've been trying for a long time," Carter said. "It's a special night. I'm not used to it."

Jordan collected 41 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and Pippen had 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 3, 1989.

Carter made 7-of-13 3-pointers and Jefferson was 6-of-8 from the arc for New Jersey, which shot 53 percent (41-of-78) overall and held a 55-36 rebounding edge to offset 25 turnovers.

The dramatic win could not have come at a better time for the Nets (36-40), who bounced back from Friday's 31-point loss at Chicago and remained one game ahead of Orlando (35-41) for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with six contests left.

"(Friday's) game was (Friday's) game," Kidd said. "We have to move forward. It's a good thing to get back to winning ways, especially this time of year."

Jarvis Hayes scored a season-high 29 points for the Wizards (39-37), who have lost seven of their last nine games - dropping them three behind Miami (42-34) for the top spot in the Southeast Division.

"It's about 48 minutes for us," Eddie Jordan said. "It's nothing about standings or getting in, we have to play 48 minutes. It could be 48 minutes in July or Christmas. It's 48 minutes. We want to make sure we execute. If you get too far ahead of yourself, you lose your focus."