Carter Scores 43 as Nets Beat Depleted Sixers in OT
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Vince Carter scored a season-high 43 points to become the 41st NBA player to reach 10,000 points, and Jason Kidd had his 62nd triple-double in the Nets’ 107-97 overtime victory over Philadelphia last night.
Kidd finished with 22 points, a season-high 16 assists, and 11 rebounds in leading the Nets to their season-high fifth straight win at home and their eighth in 11 games. Ron Mercer added 14 points, all in the fourth quarter and the overtime.
The win against a 76ers’ team that was without an ailing Allen Iverson came a lot harder than expected, especially after Carter made things look so easy scoring 27 first-half points.
New Jersey overcame an eight-point deficit with 5:46 to play, and survived a 28-point effort by Iverson’s replacement, Willie Green, who missed a last second shot at the buzzer in regulation.
Green hit a jumper early in the overtime to give Philadelphia a 95-93 lead, but Carter, who had only three points in the third quarter, matched the Nets’ franchise record with his seventh 3-pointer to give the Nets a 96-95 lead with 3:48 to play.
Mercer hit a jumper with 3:08 remaining, Kidd drove for a layup with 2:35 to play, and the Nets pulled away to move within two games of second-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.
Kenny Thomas added 21 points for the 76ers, and Kyle Korver had 11 points, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter when Philadelphia rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a seven point lead entering the final quarter. However, the Sixers scored just two baskets in the final 10:44 of regulation and overtime in losing for the second time in six games.
The Sixers led by eight points three times in the fourth quarter, the last time on Corliss Williamson’s 5-footer with 5:46 to go. That would be the Sixers’ final basket in regulation.
Carter, who also had a season-high 14 rebounds, got the Nets to 92-90 with a spinning layup with 2:03 to play, a basket that allowed him to reach the 10,000-point plateau. He has scored at least 20 points in 16 of 23 games with the Nets.
Williamson pushed the lead to three points with a free throw seconds later, but Carter eventually tied it with a three-point play with 1:05 remaining.
The Sixers are 1-5 in six games without Iverson, who was sent home after throwing up all night.
