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Kidd, Carter carry Nets over shorthanded Wizards

Feb 28, 2007 - 5:52 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- After a sluggish first half, Jason Kidd sparked the New Jersey Nets to their third straight win and a new franchise record.

Kidd scored 24 of his 26 points after halftime as the Nets set a team record with 16 3-pointers in a 113-101 victory over the injury-plagued Washington Wizards.

Kidd managed just two points in the first half but caught fire in the third, making five 3-pointers in a span of 3:09. He buried his sixth 3-pointer with 96 seconds left in the game to eclipse the previous franchise record of 15 set on December 11 against Memphis.

"Once I made two in a row, I felt that I had to attack whenever the next one presented itself," Kidd said. "When you have good looks, you have to take them."

"To make a statement of the obvious, Jason Kidd and what he did in that third quarter, was tremendous," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "He just singlehandedly got the momenutum and the flow in our favor."

Kidd made 10-of-17 shots overall, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range, and collected nine assists and eight rebounds.

"Tonight was just a role where I was a little bit more aggressive and got lucky and made some shots," Kidd said.

Vince Carter scored 27 points and Bostjan Nachbar scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets, who have won six of their last nine games overall.

Despite Kidd scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the third quarter, Washington had an 86-85 lead with 9:17 left in the game. But New Jersey scored 28 of the next 39 points led by Nachbar, who buried two 3-pointers, six free throws and a dunk during the stretch.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive and take what the defense gives me," Nachbar said. "I'm just feeding off (Carter and Kidd) and trying to make plays."

Kidd capped the burst with the record-setting three to give the Nets a 110-97 cushion.

Eddie House and Clifford Robinson scored 12 points apiece for New Jersey, which got 51 points from its bench.

"We want to be the best bench, that comes in and gives our team a spark," House said. "When the starters are out we want to make sure we keep the boat afloat and not do anything that is going to jeopardize the team."

Gilbert Arenas scored 26 points on 7-of-25 shooting as the Wizards dropped their third consecutive game - one shy of their longest losing streak of the season.

Jarvis Hayes had a season-high 21 points for Washington, which played without All-Star forward Caron Butler (back spasms) and Antawn Jamison, who was inactive due to a sprained knee.

Washington dominated the second quarter, shooting 57 percent (12-of-21), and scored the first six points of the third to take a 57-49 lead with 10:38 to go. But Kidd answered with back-to-back 3-pointers just 37 seconds apart.

Arenas responded with a 3-pointer at 9:06 and Kidd matched him 13 seconds later. After a basket by Hayes, Kidd recorded assists on consecutive dunks by rookie Hassan Adams and Mikki Moore and capped a 19-5 burst by nailing 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for a 68-62 lead at 6:50.