Nets, Pacers resume series at Meadowlands

This series is tied at 2-2. Game 6 is scheduled to be played on Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Trailing the set 2-1, the third-seeded Nets got a huge win on Saturday. All- Star Vince Carter scored a game-high 28 points, dished out seven assists and collected six steals as New Jersey evened its Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 97-88 win over No. 6 Indiana at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Richard Jefferson contributed 22 points in Game 4s win for the Nets, while Nenad Krstic registered 21 points and eight rebounds. Jason Kidd ended with 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists in the victory.

Jermaine O’Neal recorded 22 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the loss for the Pacers, while Austin Croshere came off the bench and netted 15. Stephen Jackson finished with 13 points and Anthony Johnson scored 12 in defeat.

Carter is averaging 29.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the first four games of the series.

The Nets and Pacers split Games 1 and 2 of this series at the Meadowlands. Indiana won Game 1, 90-88, while the Nets evened the series with a 90-75 victory in the second game of the set.

The Nets, who are appearing in the postseason for the fifth straight year, have won five of their last six Game 5s in the postseason, while the Pacers, who have reached the playoffs for the ninth straight season, have lost two of their last three Game 5s in the postseason,

During the regular season, the Pacers won the season series with the Nets, 2-1. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, New Jersey defeated the Pacers, 3-2, in the first round of the 2001-02 playoffs. The Nets needed a 120-109 double overtime victory in Game 5 to seal the series.