NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Boston

Boston, MA (Basketball News) - Vince Carter had 37 points and Jason Kidd added 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead New Jersey past the Boston Celtics, 102-93, as the Nets secured the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey, which will be making its fourth consecutive postseason appearance, finished the season tied with Cleveland, which beat Toronto on Wednesday, at 42-40, but earned the final spot by virtue of winning the season series from the Cavaliers.

After starting the season with just two wins in its first 13 games, New Jersey closed the season by winning 15 of its final 19 contests.

"We’re a team that has gained confidence playing with one another," said Kidd. "If we can continue to keep playing the way that we’re playing, we’ll see what happens."

The Nets now have the unenviable task of facing the East’s top-seeded Miami Heat in a best-of-seven series beginning on Sunday.

"They played us three times and they’ve beaten us soundly all three times," said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. "They have two of the five best players in the league. We know that we’re going to have to play extremely well to put ourselves in positions to win. We have the ultimate respect for them."

New Jersey, though, could get an added boost, as Richard Jefferson has started practicing with the team and could see some action in the playoffs. Jefferson, who has been out since January following surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his left wrist, averaged 22.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 33 games this season.

"It definitely makes us deeper," Kidd added. "If he is back he definitely helps us."

Paul Pierce had 21 points for Boston, which was already locked in as the three-seed after clinching the Atlantic Division and will face Indiana in a first round series starting on Saturday.

The Pacers swept Boston in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

"I think Indiana has a mental edge," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "They swept us last season and that should be in our minds."

Trailing by as many as 19 in the first half, the Nets used a monster third quarter to seize control of the contest. They outscored Boston 32-8 in the stanza and closed the quarter with a 20-2 surge to take a 79-66 lead into the final 12 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Boston, as it did on Tuesday against Cleveland, pulled most of its starters. The Celtics reserves managed to get the deficit to three, but New Jersey never relinquished the lead and pulled out the nine- point win.

The Nets closed the regular season with wins in seven of their last eight and eight of their last 10 games away from home.

New Jersey opened the game by missing its first six shots and was just 1-of-11 from the floor midway through the opening stanza. However, despite their horrid shooting, they held an 18-13 advantage with 2:28 left in the quarter and a 20-16 edge with just over 1:30 left.

Boston, though, closed the quarter with an 8-0 run and carried a four-point lead into the second quarter. . The Celtics started to pull away in the second and grabbed a 19-point lead, 49-30, on Pierce’s three-pointer with just over five minutes left in the half.

However, New Jersey scored the next nine points and closed the second quarter with a 17-9 surge to slice the deficit to 11, 58-47, heading into the locker room.