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Carter leads Nets past Magic

Jan 21, 2007 - 6:04 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - The New Jersey Nets benefited from a pair of rarities - Eddie House was unstoppable and Dwight Howard was overwhelmed.

House scored 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for the surging Nets, who held Howard to a season-low one point en route to a 101-94 victory over the struggling Orlando Magic.

Acquired in the offseason to provide instant offense off the bench, House is averaging just under six points and shooting 39 percent after missing the first month of the season with a knee injury.

The combo guard displayed his explosiveness in this one, making 5-of-7 shots - including 3-of-5 3-pointers - in the final period as New Jersey seized control.

"You have to keep taking them," said House, who was 1-of-7 from the floor entering the fourth quarter. "You never know when you get on a roll like that. We were getting open shots. It was just a matter of time before we knocked them down."

"He missed his first couple of shots early, but he said he felt like they were good, so that's a good sign," Nets guard Vince Carter said. "Once he started hitting, we decided to feed him and feed him until he got tired of shooting. It was big lift for us."

Howard had his worst game of the season, missing all six of his shots in 26 minutes. He battled foul trouble throughout and struggled against the physical defense of Nets big men Clifford Robinson, Mikki Moore and Jason Collins.

"I didn't know what was going on, I couldn't get to the free-throw line," he said. "They didn't do anything special. I'm going to have nights when I can't get my shot off. Sometimes calls won't go my way. It happens once in a blue moon, so hopefully it won't happen again."

Howard was held scoreless until he made 1-of-2 free throws with 3:24 remaining and fouled out just 78 seconds later.

"(The Nets) have veteran big guys and they all did a good job," Orlando coach Brian Hill said. "Veteran guys know how to play him. Three of them were offensive fouls, which I think were bogus, but there is not much you can do about it."

Carter scored 27 points, Richard Jefferson had 17 and eight assists and Jason Kidd collected 16, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Nets, who rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter for their ninth win in 11 games.

"We're the team that we expected to be," Carter said. "It doesn't matter how pretty or ugly the wins may be. We're just getting wins right now."

Carter scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, helping House spark the Nets with a pair of acrobatic baskets.

Orlando had a 72-71 lead after rookie J.J. Redick made a layup with 10:58 remaining and New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank was called for a technical foul 46 seconds later for arguing a foul call. Magic guard Travis Diener missed the ensuing free throw and House responded with a 3-pointer to launch an 18-3 run.

Carter followed by driving the left baseline for a reverse layup around Magic center Darko Milicic that seemed to energize the Nets.

"I was going to lay it up on the first side (of the basket) that I was on, but I didn't think it was going to happen," he said. "So I was just hoping I could hang in the air long enough to get on the other side. I don't know how it went in."

"The energy level was very low throughout the game for us until Vince made that shot," Kidd said. "Some of us who are human, those things just don't happen. But for him, that's just a regular layup."

House added back-to-back jumpers, including a 3-pointer, in the middle of the spurt, which Carter capped with a spinning baseline dunk against Hedo Turkoglu to give the Nets an 89-75 cushion with 3:53 remaining.

Turkoglu had 24 points and eight rebounds and Redick added 13 points off the bench for the Magic, who have lost five in a row and 14 of their last 21.

Redick scored eight points in the second quarter as Orlando used a small lineup to overcome the absence of Howard and take a 48-38 halftime lead. The Magic scored eight of the first 11 points in the third quarter to take their largest lead at 56-41 with 8:34 left but made just 13 of their final 34 shots.

"I'm not sure that our shot selection was good in the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth as it was earlier," Hill said.