NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Cleveland

Cleveland, OH (Basketball News) - Vince Carter scored a season-high 38 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists to lead the New Jersey Nets over the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-100, at Quicken Loans Arena.

Carter shot 15-of-21 from the field for the Nets, who blew a 17-point lead but rallied in the final minutes to come away with their fourth straight road win.

Richard Jefferson added 18 points and Nenad Krstic had 16 points for New Jersey, which has won two straight and moved back to the .500 mark at 9-9. Jason Kidd tallied 16 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds as the Nets shot 57.1 percent from the floor for the game to win their fourth straight versus Cleveland.

"It’s a quality win against a quality opponent on the road," said New Jersy head coach Lawrence Frank.

LeBron James had 32 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and eight boards for the Cavs, who have dropped three of four.

"It’s early. We are not worried," said James. "We are just going to work hard at it, and move forward and win ballgames. We have (Saturday) against Milwaukee and we are going to go there and try to come back with a win."

After trailing by as many as 17 points and rallying to draw within eight points, 80-72, heading into the fourth, the Cavaliers made it a game late.

A 14-4 run by Cleveland gave the club its first lead since the first quarter. Down 85-76, James started the surge with a free throw. Donyell Marshall added 10 points during run, capping it with a three-pointer at the 6 1/2 minute mark for a 90-89 edge.

However, the Nets answered with nine straight points to gain control. Jefferson scored seven of the nine points for New Jersey, which held a 98-90 lead with 3 1/2 remaining.

Later, Drew Gooden and Marshall helped put the nail in their coffin. Down 102-96 with just over a minute left, the duo were the only players under the basket and both went up to for the rebound of a Krstic missed jumper. However, the miscommunication cost the players as they inadvertently tipped the ball in to increase the Nets’ lead to 104-96.

James missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and the Cavs packed it in from there.

Marshall ended with 16 points for the Cavs, who fell to 7-2 at home this season.

New Jersey ran out to a 29-19 lead after one quarter and held a 54-46 advantage going into halftime.

The Nets then scored 11 of the first 13 points of third quarter to grab their largest lead of the game, 65-48. Jefferson’s bucket 2 1/2 minutes into the stanza capped the run.