EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jason Kidd helped the New Jersey Nets get off to a fast start, and they never let up.

“The big thing is that we set the tone early,” said Kidd who had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in a 100-84 victory over the Chicago Bulls last night.

“We came out aggressive and played like we had something to play for.”

Vince Carter scored 30 points as the Nets completed a season sweep of the Bulls. Jason Collins had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Nenad Krstic added 11 points as the Nets posted their seventh straight win over Chicago.

Carter enjoyed his third straight strong game against the Bulls since joining the Nets. He led New Jersey with 31 and 25 points in the prior victories.

Carter has recorded 20 or more points in 28 of the last 30 games, while Kidd got his 18th double-double of the season.

“This was all about what we needed to do,” said Carter. “We came out aggressive and ready to play and ready to win.”

The Bulls played without leading scorer Eddy Curry (15.6 points per game) who missed the game with a left hamstring strain. They struggled to pick up the slack, with the bench doing most of the scoring as the starters combined for only 37 points.

Andres Nocioni and Ben Gordon each had 15 points. Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Adrian Griffin and Jannero Pargo each scored 10.

Kidd scored on a layup 45 seconds into the game, and the Nets were off and running. They quickly sprinted to a 15-2 lead as Kidd set the pace with four points and a pair of assists.

The Bulls never recovered.

Carter led New Jersey with eight points as the Nets built a 28-11 lead after one quarter. The Nets shot 13-of-27 from the field while Bulls were only 5-for-19.

Chicago scored the first nine points of the second quarter to cut thre Nets’ lead to eight points. Griffin had four points in the Bulls run, but Chicago could not sustain the momentum as New Jersey regained control on baskets by Travis Best, Brian Scalabrine, and Kidd to build a 34-20 lead.

The Nets led 50-35 at the half as Carter added 10 more points in the second quarter, and the Nets maintained a double-digit lead through the third quarter that ended with New Jersey ahead 72-61.

The Bulls made a final push to start the fourth quarter as Pargo started hitting long range shots. He connected on a 3-pointer and a 16-footer as the Bulls reduced the Nets lead to 79-72.

Kidd killed the rally with a pair of spectacular assists to Carter for consecutive highlight baskets, an alley-oop and a dunk. The Nets pulled away down the stretch on a trio of 3-pointers, two by Carter and one by Kidd.

“It would have been really stealing if we had come back and won that game,” said Skiles. “They played better than us most of the game and they deserved to win.”

With the win, the Nets posted their third series sweep of the Bulls in franchise history. New Jersey also pulled off the sweep in 2001-02 and 2003-04.

The Nets improved to 10-4 when they score 100 or more points.