NBA Game Summary - Philadelphia at New Jersey

East Rutherford, NJ (Basketball News) - Vince Carter scored a game-high 43 points and Jason Kidd collected a triple-double as the New Jersey Nets continued their push towards the playoffs with a 104-83 victory over Philadelphia at Continental Airlines Arena.

Carter went 17-of-33 from the field and added 11 rebounds, while Kidd recorded 11 points, 16 assists and 10 boards in the win. Kidd leads all active players with 67 career triple-doubles.

With the win, New Jersey moved into a tie with Cleveland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, although the Nets hold the tiebreaker. The 76ers, who could have clinched a spot in the postseason with a win, currently sit as the seventh seed in the East, one game ahead of New Jersey and Cleveland and two behind sixth-place Indiana.

New Jersey has two games remaining — against Washington and at Boston, while Cleveland hosts Boston and visits Toronto. Philadelphia’s last two games are both at home versus Milwaukee and Atlanta

Also posting double-doubles for the Nets were Brian Scalabrine with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Nenad Krstic, who netted 18 points to go along with 10 boards.

"We had (Scalabrine) who started it off early, but yet (Kidd) can get us going, so it’s kind of like pick your poison," Carter said. "You’re either gonna stop (Kidd), you’re gonna stop me or you’re gonna stop the rest of the guys whoever is going.

"For me, I just try to attack, take what I can get and as I become a passer early...that opens up everything else later on in the game," said Carter, who had five assists.

Leading Philadelphia, which had a two-game winning streak snapped, was Allen Iverson with 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting to go along with eight assists and four rebounds.

The only other Sixer to score in double figures was Chris Webber with 14 points and seven rebounds.

"We’re disappointed and hurt we lost that game," said Webber. "We’ve just got to win tomorrow."

In addition to outrebounding Philly 53-45, New Jersey forced 18 turnovers and outscored the Sixers 46-24 in the paint.

This game was over almost as soon as it started, as the Nets raced out to an 11-4 lead en route to blitzing the Sixers for 38 points in the first quarter.

New Jersey connected on 16-of-28 field goal attempts, including a trio of triples, and forced eight turnovers in seizing a 38-25 advantage after the first quarter. Carter led the way with 15 points.

It was more of the same in the second frame, as the Nets stretched their lead to as many as 20 points before heading into halftime ahead 65-47.

New Jersey held a double-digit cushion throughout the third quarter, which ended with the Nets leading 83-65.

The Sixers used a 7-0 run to pull within 83-72 early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would come.