• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Carter, bench lead Nets to third straight win

Feb 11, 2007 - 4:56 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Vince Carter scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half and the New Jersey Nets' bench sparked a fourth-quarter spurt en route to their third straight victory, 93-78 over the Orlando Magic.

Jason Kidd had 10 points and six assists for the Nets, who had lost seven of nine previous to their winning streak.

Led by its bench, New Jersey blew open the contest with a 17-6 run bridging the final two periods, building an 81-69 edge with 7 1/2 minutes left.

"The bench won the game," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "Our starters obviously did some real good things, but without the bench we couldn't win tonight. They did really well tonight and they deserve to be recognized."

Rookie Marcus Williams scored six points on a layup and a pair of jumpers, Bostjan Nachbar added five points and Cliff Robinson knocked down a jumper. Starter Antoine Wright capped the run with a dunk and layup.

"Marcus has some innate scoring ability," Frank said. " He gives us another guy who can not only make shots but create shots. That's what good players do. Marcus likes taking big shots. He's not afraid to fail, and I think whether you're a rookie or a veteran that has to be your approach. You have to play to play great."

Williams, who scored 17 points in New Jersey's win at Boston on Friday, finished with 12 points and a season high-tying seven assists.

"I have a lot more confidence now," Williams said. "Coach is letting me play through my mistakes. Jason's been helping me, tutoring me along with the other veterans."

"Marcus has been playing well. He's starting to grow, starting to understand when to find the right guy," Kidd said. "The good thing is for him to keep going and I try to talk to him during the game and see if I see something he could do. But he's learning, he's got all the time in the world and he's going to be a special player."

Dwight Howard, who entered averaging 27.6 points on 33-of-37 shooting in his last three games, scored 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting for the Magic, who have lost 12 of 15.

"He's a the focal point of our offense from the standpoint of trying to get the ball to him in a deep post position," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "Certainly he's the focal point of our offense as far as us trying to play inside-out and establish him in the low post."

Although Howard was tough on the inside, collecting 12 rebounds and blocking four shots, the All-Star committed seven turnovers. He scored just one point in his last visit to Continental Airlines Arena.

Jameer Nelson, who scored a career-high 31 points for the Magic in their 106-104 win over San Antonio on Friday, scored 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting.

Carter shot 6-of-9, including making both attempts from the arc, for 17 points in the first quarter. Howard converted all four of his shots in the first period for 10 points.

"I felt pretty good. My shot was finally falling, which help set up my drive," Carter said. "I was just trying to take what the defense gave me. That made it tough for them. I was just trying to set the tone and finish the game for us, and whatever happens in between is good as well. I was staying in attack mode, not trying to force anything."