PHILADELPHIA – Vince Carter’s transition to a new team is going much smoother than Chris Webber’s.

Carter scored 26 of his 32 points in the second half and Clifford Robinson added 18 points, leading the Nets to a 99-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night.

Allen Iverson had 37 points and Webber scored 10 in his worst performance in three games for the Sixers. Philadelphia has lost three of four since acquiring Webber from Sacramento last week.

“I don’t know what to say,” Webber said. “Anything you say is an excuse. You just have to do it. Everybody knows what type of player I am. Obviously, I have to make adjustments. It’s frustrating.”

The Nets have won three straight to close within 1 1/2 games of Philadelphia, which trails first-place Boston by 1 1/2 games in the Atlantic Division.

“There’s got to be a grace period for the guy to fit in,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said of Webber.

Carter has fit in well with the Nets since coming to New Jersey in a trade with Toronto on December 17. He has scored 30 or more points in 12 of his 33 games with the Nets, who are 19-18 since the trade.

After a three-point play by Iverson cut New Jersey’s lead to 85-82 with 2:36 left, Carter and Iverson traded 3-pointers. Carter added a pair of free throws, giving the Nets a 90-85 lead, and the Sixers couldn’t get any closer.

“We were able to maintain when they made their runs,” Carter said. “We tried to take advantage of mismatches.”

Carter missed eight of his nine shots and had just 6 points in the first half. But he scored 14 in the third quarter, including 12 during a 23-8 run that gave the Nets a 65-59 lead. Carter had three 3-pointers in that stretch.

One night after scoring 48 points in a win at Milwaukee, Iverson started slow, missing his first five shots and had three of his nine turnovers in the first quarter. He finished strong, getting 28 points in the second half.

Webber missed 10 of his first 11 shots, didn’t score until 4:08 remained in the first half, and finished 4-of-18 with eight rebounds. He even heard a few boos from Philly fans.

“It’s hard for me mentally because I want him to play well so bad,” Iverson said of Webber. “I know how tough it is in Philly. I’ve dealt with criticism here and I don’t want to see what happened to me happen to him. He’s trying so hard.”

Jason Kidd had 15 points and Travis Best added 14 for New Jersey.

Both teams started sluggish, combining to miss 15 of the first 21 shots.

A pair of free throws and a turnaround jumper by Jackson gave the Sixers a 41-36 lead at halftime.

“In the second half, Vince stepped up in a huge way,” Frank said. “We had more ball reversal and he was spotting up. And, we posted him up more. He’s letting the game come to him.”