Carter leads Nets over Pacers

Jason Kidd added 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds while Mikki Moore donated 19 points and pulled down seven boards for the Nets, who have won six of their last eight contests.

"Since that Detroit game, the one game that you can say that hopefully is a little bit of an aberration is the Houston game," said Nets head coach Lawrence Frank referring to New Jersey playing better of late. "We’ve played pretty good basketball. The Minnesota game, unfortunately, we probably played well for around 34 of the 48 minutes. I think our guys understand what we need to do in order to win. Anytime you get knocked down you like to get back up as quickly as possible. We’ve been playing pretty good basketball but the key is we have to continue to challenge ourselves and play better.

Al Harrington chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds while Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal and Maceo Baston each netted 14 for the Pacers, who have lost two in a row. O’Neal grabbed 10 rebounds and Baston had eight boards.

"We gotten beaten soundly the first three quarters and our guys who played the fourth won the quarter by 15, but we never got within striking distance," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

In the first, Harrington’s jumper Indiana’s deficit to 17-16, but the Nets responded with a 14-4 run, including seven points from Kidd, for a 31-20 lead. New Jersey took a 35-24 margin into the second quarter.

Leading 44-33, the Nets reeled off a 13-3 surge, capped by four straight points from Eddie House, extending the lead to 57-36. New Jersey had a 63-42 advantage at the break.

Trailing 88-63 at the end of three, the Pacers opened the final frame with a 17-7 rally, capped by Sarunas Jasikevicius’ trey, narrowing the gap to 95-80 with nearly six minutes remaining.

Moore’s three-point play pushed the lead to 20, 100-80, but Indiana wouldn’t give up. They closed the game on a 15-5 burst, but it was too little, too late.

Game Notes

The Nets shot 48 percent from the field, while the Pacers connected on 40 percent of their shots from the floor...Jasikevicius finished with nine points and seven assists...Indiana won the rebounding battle, 44-41...New Jersey has won three of the last four meetings. The Nets have won four straight at home...House ended with nine points.