EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? Jason Kidd and Vince Carter helped the New Jersey Nets take a positive feeling into the All-Star break.
Kidd had his 64th career triple-double and Carter scored 21 points to lead the Nets past the Sacramento Kings 96-85 on Wednesday night.
“We have to build on this and come back with a strong start after the break,” said Carter. “It always helps winning a big one like this going into the break. When we come back, we have to take care of what we have to do.”
The mission for the Nets in the second half is a run at the up-for-grab Atlantic Division title.
‘We know our backs are against the wall and every game counts for us,” said Kidd. “We have to minimize our losses and can’t afford a losing streak. We’ve been playing well over the last month. This gives us a big win to end the first half and gives us something to build on.”
Carter reached 20 points for the 11th straight game and the 17th time in the last 18. Kidd finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double in the last six games.
Rookie Nenad Krstic scored a career-best 18 points and Jason Collins had eight points and 13 rebounds for the Nets.
Mike Bibby had 25 points to lead the Kings, who lost for the sixth time in the last seven games. Cuttino Mobley had 16 points, while Chris Webber had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento. Maurice Evans had 10 points for the Kings before fouling out.
In contrast to the Nets, the Kings limp into the break.
“The only thing saving my feelings right now is that it’s the All-Star break,” said Webber. “We have a lot of guys hurting. That’s not an excuse. Everybody needs to rest, mentally and physically, over the break.”
The game seesawed through the third quarter with seven lead changes. It remained close until the Nets took charge midway through the fourth.
With the game tied at 78, the Nets went on a 14-2 run. Carter started the spurt with a leaning jumper over two defenders and Kidd followed with a 3-pointer. Carter added four more points in the stretch and Travis Best chipped in five points.
The Kings had no answers down the stretch.
“They had three or four different people making 3s and they broke the game open,” said Kings coach Rick Adelman. “We couldn’t get our shots to go down. I thought we were very sluggish.”
Notes: Clifford Robinson, who just joined the Nets, had little time to adapt. “He had about an hour to digest what we do,” said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. “Cliff obviously is going to be a big part of the plan. We’ll wait and see just how much he can contribute.” Robinson made his Nets debut with 11:08 remaining in the second period. He scored nine points. …The Kings blew out the Nets 113-93 in the earlier meeting on Jan. 25 in Sacramento. … F Peja Stojakovic and G Kevin Martin both missed the game with what the Kings described as “flulike symptoms.” Stojakovic, who also missed the Kings’ loss in Chicago on Tuesday, was not with the team. …The Nets are 8-16 against Western Conference teams.