NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Denver

11.29.2005

Denver, CO (Basketball News) - Vince Carter scored 25 points and Richard Jefferson netted 24 to propel New Jersey to a 101-92 victory over Denver at the Pepsi Center.

Jason Kidd compiled 13 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who led from start-to-finish and were up by as many as 22 points in the first half.

New Jersey wrapped up a five-game western road trip with back-to-back wins. The Nets downed the Lakers 102-96 in overtime on Sunday.

Former Net Kenyon Martin poured in 26 points before being ejected late, and Earl Boykins contributed 24 off the bench for the Nuggets, but Denver lost its leading scorer less than two minutes into the game.

Carmelo Anthony suffered a sprained left ankle after being fouled by New Jersey’s Nenad Krstic with 1:30 elapsed in the first quarter. He stayed in to make both free throw attempts before limping off to the locker room for x- rays, which proved to be negative.

Up 12-10 early on, the Nets took control with a 9-0 run ignited by Carter’s three-pointer five minutes into the game. Denver would cut the deficit to five when Boykins hit a jumper late in the first quarter, but New Jersey answered with a 13-3 spurt to close out the period.

Jefferson highlighted the surge with a pair of three-pointers, and Kidd capped it with a steal and layup that sent the Nets to a commanding 36-21 advantage after one quarter.

"The effort here tonight was tremendous," said New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank of his squad. "We got off to a great start and sustained it."

The lead grew to 22 points less than 2 1/2 minutes into the second when Jeff McInnis’ jumper made the score 43-21. A mild rally attempt by the Nuggets near the end of the half trimmed the margin to 14, but the Nets would head into the break up comfortably at 55-40.

Jefferson led the way with 17 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Carter made 5-of-7 field goal attempts for 14 points. New Jersey shot nearly 55 percent from the floor as a team over the initial 24 minutes.

"We fell behind because we were soft and let (the Nets) get into their rhythm," said Nuggets head coach George Karl. "Mentally we gave them the first half."

Denver slowly chipped away at the lead and got within 77-70 after embarking on a 7-1 run, ending with a Boykins three-point play and a Linas Kleiza outside jumper, to finish the third quarter.

A Kleiza layup early in the fourth brought Denver within 81-75 before New Jersey scored the next seven points to seemingly pull away. However, the Nuggets responded with an 8-0 burst and closed the gap to 88-83 when Martin made 1-of-2 foul shots with 3:25 left.

The Nets were up by six, 93-87, with just over a minute to go when Martin was whistled for a foul on Carter and both he and Karl received technicals for arguing the call. Carter made all five of the free throws to seal the win.

"You’ve got to show some poise and weather the storm, and our guys did that," Frank remarked about the Nets withstanding Denver’s comeback effort.

Martin would get another technical during the ensuing timeout to end his night.

Denver’s Andre Miller nearly had a triple-double despite not making a field goal. He went 0-of-10 from the field, 10-of-12 from the line and added 10 rebounds and nine assists...New Jersey has won seven of the last eight meetings between the clubs...Denver lost for only the second time in eight home games this year...Boykins made 4-of-9 three-point attempts...The Nuggets shot just 37.7 percent for the night...Carter made 10-of-11 free throws...McInnis ended with 12 points off the bench.

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.