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Carter, Nets continue push for sixth straight playoff appearance

Apr 4, 2007 - 3:00 PM Atlanta (27-47) at New Jersey (34-39) 7:30 pm EDT

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - Hobbled by a sore knee, Vince Carter still is doing all he can to help the New Jersey Nets clinch their sixth consecutive playoff appearance.

Carter and the Nets look for their second straight win Wednesday night when they visit the banged-up Atlanta Hawks.

Carter injured his right knee in Friday's 110-105 road loss to Detroit. However, he bounced back to score 13 of his 19 points in the second half of Saturday's 86-82 home win over Philadelphia.

The Nets (34-39) have not missed the playoffs since 2001. They seem secure in seventh place in the weak Eastern Conference but are just one-half game ahead of eighth-place Orlando (34-40).

New Jersey also has cushions of 2 1/2 games on Indiana and three games on New York, who are still in contention for a playoff berth. That will come in handy as five of New Jersey's final nine opponents have winning records. In that stretch, there are a pair of matchups with both Chicago and Washington.

The Hawks (27-47) already have surpassed last season's win total of 26 but are limping toward the finish line.

All-Star guard Joe Johnson has missed 13 games with a calf injury and is not likely to return. Swingman Josh Childress will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot.

That has left much of the burden on Josh Smith, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday's 105-97 home loss to Chicago.

The Nets and Hawks traded last-second wins in a four-day span in February, with each team winning on the road.

Tyronn Lue's jumper in the final seconds gave Atlanta a 101-99 overtime win on February 4. Carter had the go-ahead layup with 7.6 seconds to play, helping New Jersey to an 87-85 win February 7.