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Nets outlast Kings in overtime

Nov 27, 2008 - 7:38 AM By Tom Galland PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- The Sacramento Kings opened the door one too many times for the New Jersey Nets. And Devin Harris made them pay.

Harris buried a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, then hit a 16-foot jumper over Bobby Jackson with 11 seconds left in the overtime to give the Nets a 116-114 win at Arco Arena on Wednesday.

The win ended a nine-game losing streak at Sacramento for the Nets.

Vince Carter scored 25 for the Nets but missed the final 2:18 of overtime after injuring his right leg, and Harris more than filled the void, finishing with 18 critical points.

Carter's injury was reported as a hamstring cramp afterward and is not expected to be serious.

"We just played through (Carter's injury)," Harris said. "Jarvis (Hayes) came in, hit some big free throws for us and gave us some big key stops. When Vince goes out, we've got other guys who need to step up."

"In the course of an 82-game season, you're going to win some games that you shouldn't have won and you're going to lose some games you shouldn't have lost," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "To have a special year, you just try to win more of those."

The Kings led by six with 34 seconds left in regulation, but opened the door for the Nets with missed free throws and bad decisions on defense that allowed New Jersey to convert from the line.

Harris closed out the fourth quarter with a driving layup and then nailed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left that tied it. Sacramento fumbled away its final possession to send the game into overtime.

It was more of the same in overtime.

"We've got to step up and in the end make better decisions on defense," said Sacramento point guard Beno Udrih, who scored 16 and dished a season-high 10 assists. "I don't know, we got tired or something. We had it and we lost the game."

The Kings forged ahead by four on a John Salmons 3-pointer, then Keyon Dooling hit from the arc and Carter added a free throw to tie it once again after Brad Miller picked up a technical.

Miller converted 1-of-2 from the line to put the Kings back on top, 114-113, before Harris' shot lifted the Nets. Hayes added a free throw for the final margin.

"It was a basic clear-out," Harris said of the final shot. "No different than what we run pretty much all game long. It was my shot to take. If I saw somebody helping out, I'd make the extra pass. Basically it was just to try to get the best shot possible at that point."

Salmons scored a career-high 38 for the Kings.

"This kind of loss sting pretty bad," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "Mistakes were made, but down the stretch we missed six free throws - basically in the (end of) regulation and then a couple in overtime. Outside of that, guys played hard."

With the Kings trailing by five in the fourth, Jackson stole an errant pass and converted a layup on the other end to ignite a 10-0 run.

Then the Kings' two big men, Spencer Hawes and Miller, followed with 3-pointers and Salmons finished the run with a floater in the lane that put Sacramento on top, 101-96, with 2:18 remaining.

After Yi Jianlian drove for a baseline dunk to give the Nets their biggest lead at 68-51 early in the third, the Kings finally showed some life for their home crowd.

Miller hit a 3-pointer from the corner to ignite a 17-2 run by the Kings that cut the deficit to three with just under five minutes left in the quarter.

Rookie Ryan Anderson answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to help the Nets stem the tide briefly and New Jersey took an 82-77 lead into the final quarter.

Anderson, a local hero in his youth, had a large contingent of friends and relatives in attendance in his first time on the Arco Arena court since winning a state high school championship in 2005.

"It was definitely exciting," said Anderson, who tallied 13 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. "It was a really fun game and a lot of guys stepped up and played great. These are the games that really show the fight that we have."

Fellow Norcal alum Brook Lopez, the No. n10 overall pick out of Stanford, scored 15 his 20 points in the first half to help the Nets forge their way to a 56-45 advantage at the break. It was the Kings who looked like they were playing for the second straight night, playing a listless first two quarters while converting just 35 percent (15-of-43) from the floor.