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Krstic, Nets continue Warriors' long skid in New Jersey

Dec 19, 2006 - 5:28 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Nenad Krstic and the New Jersey Nets continue to make Continental Airlines Arena a road house of horrors for the Golden State Warriors.

Krstic scored 26 points and hauled in a season-high 14 rebounds as the Nets posted a 105-97 victory over the Warriors.

Golden State has not won in New Jersey since February 28, 1997, when executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin was still suiting up for Golden State.

Krstic shot 10-of-15 from the field for the Nets, who have won seven of their last eight vs. the Warriors.

"Nenad was the biggest thing out there for us," Nets guard Jason Kidd said. "We put a lot of pressure on him tonight, trying to get him the ball. He was the tallest player out there so was pressure was on him offensively and defensively and he stepped up and played a great game."

New Jersey won despite another below-par effort from Vince Carter. The seven-time All-Star had just 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting, his lowest point total this season. In the past three games, Carter has averaged just 11.7 points and shot a meager 25 percent.

However, with the Nets trailing 86-78 with 11:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, Carter's two free throws capped a 19-2 run to put New Jersey up, 97-88, with 5:03 left in the period.

After Matt Barnes made a 3-pointer to get the Warriors within 97-91, Carter drilled a jumper from the arc to put the Nets back up by nine with 4:28 left in the contest. It was Carter's only basket since the first quarter and helped prevent Golden State from getting any closer than six points the rest of the way.

"Vince didn't score 30, but his last three games he hasn't scored 30 and we've had chances to win," Kidd said. "He hasn't had that Vince-type game but he's finding the open man, rebounding and doing it on the defensive end."

"We played a very good game for three quarters," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "We just didn't have anything left in the fourth quarter. It wasn't our defense, it was our offense. We stopped doing the things that helped us get easy baskets."

Kidd added 10 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for the Nets, who shot 40 percent (38-of-95) from the field. It was Kidd's 81st triple-double of his career.

The Nets' other seven-time All-Star has six triple-doubles this season, two more than the rest of the league combined, and it was his fourth in the last seven games.

"They told me at the end I had a triple-double but we didn't open any champagne or anything," Kidd said.

Baron Davis scored 25 points, collected eight rebounds and dished nine assists for the Warriors, who have lost eight straight road games and fell to 1-9 away from home this season.

"They beat us to the punch in the fouth quarter," Davis said. "It was like they wanted it a little more. We just slowed down. They are a good half-court defensive team and we talked about that going in. We just played right into their hands in the final period. That's all I've got to say."

Monta Ellis had 19 points and Mike Dunleavy added 18 for Golden State, which shot 45 percent (38-of-84) from the field.

"They did a good job but when we play the right way, we're pretty tough to guard," Dunleavy said. "We just didn't do that tonight."