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Carter, Kidd spark quick start, lead Nets past Pacers

Jan 16, 2007 - 1:22 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- A quick start by Vince Carter and Jason Kidd helped the New Jersey Nets finish off the Indiana Pacers.

Carter and Kidd combined for 22 points in a big first quarter and the resurgent Nets raced to a 27-point lead before cruising to a 105-95 victory over the defenseless Pacers.

Carter scored 31 points and Kidd added 19, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Nets (17-20), who have won six of their last eight games overall and four in a row at home. New Jersey remained percentage points behind first-place Toronto (18-21) in the weak Atlantic Division.

"To come out this afternoon and play at a high level and take care of business at home - that's the way we want to be," Kidd said.

The Nets trailed, 12-8, when Carter drained a 3-pointer to trigger a 21-6 run. He added another 3-pointer and another jumper in the surge, which also featured consecutive dunks by Mikki Moore and seven points, two assists and a steal by Kidd.

"Mikki has been off the charts for us - rebounding, his energy level, finishing plays, defensively," Kidd said. "He's been a big reason for our success."

In the first quarter, Carter scored 12 points and Kidd added 10 as New Jersey shot 63 percent (15-of-24) from the field and opened a 35-24 lead.

"I was kind of just going with the flow of the game I was hitting shots and feeling comfortable," Carter said. "(Jason) was hitting shots, and we had a lot of good things going from a lot of people. I knew I had a good thing going, but it wasn't anything where I felt like I had to take a lot of shots."

Indiana's defense remained non-existent in the second period, when Eddie House made a 3-pointer and jumper off assists by Kidd on consecutive possessions to widen the lead to 57-36 with 5:24 to go.

"Our undoing was the first half, when our defense was poor and we didn't share the ball the way we needed to," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

New Jersey held a 63-42 halftime advantage and opened its largest lead at 86-59 on a 3-pointer by Carter with 3:32 left in the third period.

"Richard (Jefferson), Vincent and Jason combined in the first half for 16 assists and one turnover, which obviously set a great tone," Frank said. "The bench did a great job in the second quarter by giving us a lift. Our big men also did a great job."

Things got worse for Indiana, which got no closer than the final margin. All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal spent the fourth quarter on the bench with his leg wrapped in ice.

O'Neal did not practice Saturday or Sunday due to a tender left ankle suffered in Friday's home overtime loss to Dallas. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds before sitting down.

"When you can't gets stops and can't make shots, that's one of the worst combinations in basketball," O'Neal said. "Those guys made some tough shots, but our defense could have been a lot better. That's been the key of our team. When we play good defense we win, and when we play poor defense we lose."

Moore scored 19 points - one shy of his career high set earlier this season - for the Nets, who shot 48 percent (40-of-84) - including 12-of-23 from the arc - as they improved to 2-0 vs. the Pacers this season. Carter made 5-of-8 3-pointers.

"We told (Moore) from day one, 'If you're open, you're going to get the ball," Carter said. "With his ability to finish around the rim, his energy and his athleticism, we want him to utilize what he brings to the table."

New Jersey native Al Harrington scored 18 points for the Pacers, who shot just 40 percent (31-of-77) and have lost two in a row following a season-high three-game winning streak.

"Today was disappointing because we had made some strides in the last week to 10 days and we took a step back, and that's tough," Carlisle said.