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Kidd scores season-high 25 points to lift Nets

Nov 16, 2006 - 3:09 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Jason Kidd took away the spotlight from Michael Redd and Vince Carter.

Kidd scored a season-high 25 points and handed out 11 assists to lead the Nets to a 100-87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

The contest featured the NBA's top-two scorers in Redd and Carter, who was a game-time decision with the flu.

Kidd, who usually is creating for others, picked up some of the slack with Carter slowed by authoring up his best offensive game of the season. He made 9-of-14 shots and also grabbed eight rebounds in falling just shy of his third triple-double of the season.

"With Vince missing the shootaround, I didn't know if he was going or not, so my mind-set was not to think offensively, but to try and grab control of the game early," Kidd said. "My plan didn't change when I found out Vince was going.

"I wanted to help him out on the offensive end because we've relied on him so much to carry us. I made some early shots and I just kept shooting."

While Kidd shined, Redd was just a bit better than Carter. Redd scored 25 points on 7-of-19 shooting for the Bucks, who trailed virtually the entire way.

Carter scored a season-low 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting in 36 minutes.

"I just wanted to come out and have a presence and do whatever I could do," Carter said.

"Just having Vince on the floor was a huge plus," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "He could have very easily sat out. I don't know how much legs he had underneath him. Just having him out there, he obviously wasn't 100 percent, but the fact that he put the uniform on and gave us what he had was a big lift.

Nenad Krstic added 22 points and Clifford Robinson 12 for New Jersey, which rebounded from Monday's 119-113 home loss to Seattle.

The Nets were much better on the defensive end, holding the Bucks to 41 percent (31-of-76) shooting. They also held a 45-30 rebounding advantage, two nights after they badly were beaten on the boards.

Kidd was an offensive machine in the first quarter, scoring 11 straight at one point during a 19-1 run, which allowed the Nets to grab a 22-9 lead.

"He set an unbelievable tone I think," Frank said. "He just kind of singlehandedly separated us. He had great energy, set a great tempo and forced our guys to play at a very high energy level. Obviously he got us going."

By halftime, Kidd scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting as the Nets widened their advantage to 57-44.

"Jason understands the game," Carter said. "He understands with R.J. (Richard Jefferson) out, he has to step it up. From the jump ball it was his show. He was a man possessed tonight and it was good to see. We were going to run with him until the wheels came off and I was just hoping he didn't get tired before the fourth quarter."

"He's a remarkable player," Bucks coach Terry Stotts said. "With Richard Jefferson out, he's taken on a little more of the scoring load. He shot the ball very well in the first half and I think he set the tone for them."

Mo Williams attempted to keep the Bucks in it, scoring a season-high 26 points. His 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter cut Milwaukee's deficit to 76-68.

"They came out with a lot of energy," Williams said. "We played a game last night. Our starters played a lot of minutes last night. Everybody played somewhere around 35-40 minutes. We came out, myself, came out kind of lax and they took it right to us."

Robinson converted a layup and 3-pointer and Krstic had two baskets in a surge to open the fourth quarter, allowing the Nets to rebuild the lead to double digits.