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Kidd leads Nets to second straight comeback vs. Bulls

Jan 12, 2007 - 5:56 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets decided to let the Chicago Bulls build another big lead before making another comeback.

Kidd scored 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out 11 assists as the Nets posted an 86-83 come-from-behind victory over the Bulls.

Vince Carter had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Richard Jefferson scored 14 for New Jersey, which trailed by 18 points for the second straight time vs. Chicago before rallying to earn the victory.

Last Friday, the Bulls started the game on an 18-0 run before the Nets turned things around for a 91-86 win.

New Jersey trailed, 55-37, with 10:19 left in the third quarter in this one following a jumper by Andres Nocioni, but it outscored Chicago, 22-5, over the next 7:21 to close within 61-59. Kidd scored seven points in the run.

"It was just a pure coincidence coming back from 18 down vs. Chicago," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "The Bulls being up 18 has nothing in common with each other. However it does show the determination in a special person like Kidd, the guy inspires us every night. It's just a shame that our record is not better."

The Nets finally grabbed the lead at 76-74 with 5:41 remaining in the fourth, as Kidd connected on one of his three 3-pointers.

"My job was to interject some energy and hopefully I did that," Kidd said. "I thought if I could change the tempo and knock down some shots in the second half, we had a chance to win the game."

The seven-time All-Star had eight points in the fourth quarter, and finished 8-of-17 from the field for New Jersey, which has won five of its last six games. It was Kidd's 82nd career triple-double.

"He's just a special player, I can't say enough good things about him and what he does for us," Frank said. "Just look at what he did in the second half. This was a special performance by a special player."

"Once again we didn't have an answer for much of anything they did," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "Jason was very good, and in the second half they just picked up their energy. Unfortunately we didn't have much of a response to that."

Nocioni scored 28 points and Ben Gordon had 23 for the Bulls, who have lost five of their last six games.

"We need to play with more confidence and we need to keep working on both ends of the court," Nocioni said. "Tonight we took some shots and the ball just wasn't going in, we can play much better."

Gordon had just three second-half points and Kirk Hinrich added 19 points and 10 assists for Chicago, which shot 38 percent (29-of-77) and has dropped three of its last four at the United Center.

"They got a ton of offensive rebounds on us and picked up their energy level in the second half," Hinrich said. "We were not able to keep up with them."