Carter Is Unstoppable in Nets’ Win

Vince Carter was too much for defending champion Detroit on Saturday at East Rutherford, N.J.

Carter, who was acquired by New Jersey earlier this season in a trade with Toronto, had his best game as a Net with 41 points as New Jersey ended Detroit’s five-game winning streak with a 107-85 victory.

Carter, who finished 10 points shy of his career high, scored 20 of his points during a 29-9 run bridging the third and fourth quarters that turned a 63-61 edge into a 92-70 lead.

Carter’s points were a season high, surpassing the 33 he scored Jan. 19 in a victory over Milwaukee that came 33 days after the Nets acquired him from the Raptors.

New Jersey, 13-13 since the Carter trade, was coming off a lopsided loss at Boston that ended its four-game winning streak.

“Was that Boston game an aberration? We wanted to redeem ourselves for that, and we wanted to do it against a high-level team like Detroit,” Net Coach Lawrence Frank said. “You always judge yourself against the best, and they have what we want.”

Jason Kidd added 12 points and 14 assists, surpassing Kenny Anderson as the franchise leader in career assists with 2,364. Kidd also surpassed Bob Cousy (6,955) for 12th place on the NBA’s all-time assists list.

Tayshaun Prince had 17 points and Antonio McDyess 15 for the Pistons, who couldn’t stop the Nets once Carter got going.

“Nothing went right today. We were flat,” Prince said. “We managed to cut it to two at halftime, but it was a bad third quarter.

“We weren’t doing what we’re supposed to do on defense, and that’s what creates chaos.”

It was the first loss for the Pistons since Jan. 24.

Portland 114, Sacramento 108 -- Damon Stoudamire finished with 30 points and eight assists and Zach Randolph added 28 points and 12 rebounds as the Trail Blazers won at Portland, Ore.

Mike Bibby led the Kings with 35 points.

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Seattle 113, Charlotte 99 -- Ray Allen scored 25 points after missing two games because of flu, leading the SuperSonics to a home win. Reggie Evans had a career-high 21 rebounds for Seattle.

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Phoenix 114, New York 106 -- Amare Stoudemire had 32 points and 15 rebounds and Steve Nash added 26 points and 14 assists at Phoenix as the Suns won for the seventh time in eight games.

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Denver 107, Golden State 91 -- Kenyon Martin had 24 points and nine rebounds at Denver as the Nuggets improved to 4-1 under Coach George Karl.

The Warriors have lost seven of eight.

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Utah 108, New Orleans 92 -- Carlos Boozer scored 18 points and Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring each had 17 to help the Jazz end a three-game losing streak at Salt Lake City. Bostjan Nachbar led the Hornets with a career-high 21 points.

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Cleveland 101, Orlando 92 -- LeBron James had 30 points and nine assists at Cleveland as the Cavaliers defeated the Magic. Grant Hill led Orlando with 17 points but had only two in the fourth quarter.

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Miami 108, Chicago 97 -- Shaquille O’Neal had 26 points and 10 rebounds at Miami as the Heat defeated the Bulls. Dwyane Wade added 25 points for Miami, which has won five of six.

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Washington 112, Milwaukee 94 -- Gilbert Arenas had 31 points, nine assists and six rebounds to help the Wizards stop a four-game losing streak at Washington.

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Indiana 84, Atlanta 79 -- Jermaine O’Neal scored 38 points as the Pacers won at Atlanta, their second victory in a row after a six-game losing streak.