EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Richard Jefferson scored 26 points and Vince Carter added 21 to help the Nets beat New Orleans 99-91 last for their 11th straight home victory.

Jason Kidd, the NBA’s active leader with 70 triple-doubles, missed his 71st by one rebound as he finished with 14 points, 11 assists, and nine boards.

The Nets (25-21) moved to within two games of tying the franchise’s longest home winning streak, set in 2002-03 and equaled the following season.

Speedy Claxton led New Orleans with 23 points off the bench, but was shut out in the fourth quarter. The Hornets had their fourgame winning streak snapped.

The game slipped away quickly for the Hornets, who led from midway through the second quarter until early in the fourth, minus a span of about 20 seconds in the third quarter. Trailing 71-68 to start the final period, the Nets went to Jefferson, Kidd, and Carter and took control of the game as New Orleans’s lack of a big scorer began to show.

Jefferson had four points and Kidd and Carter both hit 3-pointers in a 21-4 spurt that put the visitors away. Center Nenad Krstic, back after missing Saturday’s win over Miami with the flu, contributed eight points in the quarter before fouling out with 4:07 left.

New Orleans cooled off in the third quarter after shooting 50% in the first half, enabling the Nets to climb back into the game. A 3-pointer by Kidd that just beat the shotclock buzzer capped a 13-2 run to give the Nets a 62-60 lead, their first since midway through the second quarter.

After shooting 53% in their win over Miami on Saturday, the Nets couldn’t find the basket in the first half yesterday. They kept even with the Hornets in the first quarter and even held a 25-20 lead near the end of the period, but suffered through an abysmal (5-for-20) shooting performance in the next 12 minutes and trailed 51-39 at halftime.

A 20-6 run that propelled New Orleans into the lead was guided by the 5-foot-11 Claxton, who was everywhere on the court: slapping the ball out of Kidd’s hands in the backcourt, pestering the 6-foot-7 Carter on the defensive end, and knifing through the Nets to create havoc in the lane.

His three-point play off a drive that left Jefferson and Krstic clutching at the air gave New Orleans a 38-31 lead and capped an 11-0 run.

Hornets coach Byron Scott, who was fired by the Nets midway through the 2003-04 season, fell to 0-3 against his former team.

Charlotte extended the deadline to Tuesday at noon to finalize the deal to bring center Steven Hunter from the 76ers .

Hornets guard Chris Paul went down hard and appeared to hit his tailbone with 4:07 left in the game, but he remained in the game.