Carter, Kidd spur on Nets
Vince Carter had a career quarter and almost a career game.
Carter outscored the Boston Celtics 24-19 in the first quarter en route to a season-best 45-point performance, helping the New Jersey Nets continue their late playoff push with a 99-86 victory on Saturday afternoon in East Rutherford, N.J.
Jason Kidd added a season-high 17 assists and rookie center Nenad Krstic had 17 points in leading the Nets to their 11th win in 14 games.
“With these last six or seven games I am just trying to take it up one more notch,” Carter said. “I am just trying to get everyone to focus in a little more. I am just trying to grab and pull everything out of each player to commit to these last couple of games. I think we are capable of being in the playoffs. If you get in you never know what can happen.”
Paul Pierce had 16 points to lead the Celtics, who saw coach Doc Rivers get ejected after just 1:41 for arguing a call with referee Tim Donaghy.
The good news for Rivers was he didn’t have to watch Carter.
The All-Star finished 18 of 32 from the field, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range. He hit his first six shots and nine of his first 10, including all five 3-pointers in the first quarter as New Jersey took a 37-19 lead.
“When he is going like that, you don’t want to get out of his way. You want to be right there to help him out when they come to double,” Kidd said. “But it didn’t matter if they double-teamed. He was just going to shoot over people this afternoon and he did that.”
The 24 points were a single-quarter high in the NBA this year.
Sixers 112, Wizards 106: Philadelphia played without Allen Iverson, blew a 21-point first-half lead and trailed by 13 in the fourth quarter before rallying on the road to beat Washington for its fourth straight win.
Andre Iguodala, Willie Green and Marc Jackson scored 20 points each to lead six 76ers in double figures as the team spread the wealth without NBA scoring leader Iverson, who sprained both thumbs in Friday night’s win over Cleveland.
Gilbert Arenas scored a career-high 44 points for the Wizards, who have lost five straight.
Rockets 98, Suns 97: Tracy McGrady scored 34 points and visiting Houston held off a fierce late Phoenix rally to beat the Suns and secure a playoff berth.
The Suns, down by 14 with 9:51 to go, had a chance to win it at the finish but Steve Nash missed an 18-footer, and Steven Hunter’s attempt to slam home the rebound bounced out.
Amare Stoudemire had 32 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns but fouled out with 2:01 to play.
Spurs 125, Clippers 124 (2OT): Robert Horry made a 3-pointer with 22.2 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, then preserved the victory with a block, giving San Antonio a road win over Los Angeles.
Rookie Shaun Livingston, who scored a career-high 18 points, had given the Clippers a 124-122 lead by making a layup with 32.4 seconds to play.
Manu Ginobili had 40 points, six rebounds and nine assists for the Spurs.
Hawks 105, Timberwolves 98: Tyronn Lue scored 23 points, including 12 straight in the fourth quarter, and Atlanta beat visiting Minnesota to end a 14-game losing streak.
Kevin Garnett had 31 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota.
Cavaliers 98, Bucks 81: LeBron James made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 40 points – 28 in the first half – as Cleveland kept its weak grasp on a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over visiting Milwaukee.
Bulls 110, Raptors 97: Chicago secured its first playoff berth since the Michael Jordan era, beating visiting Toronto.
Chicago is headed to the playoffs for the first time since the 1997-98 season, when Jordan led the Bulls to their sixth NBA title.
Kirk Hinrich scored 25 points to lead five Bulls in double figures.
Mavericks 88, Jazz 81: Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points to help Dallas beat visiting Utah and secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Nowitzki also had nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks as Dallas wrapped up the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
Bulls’ Deng to have surgery
Chicago Bulls rookie forward Luol Deng will have surgery next week to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist.
The Bulls had said Deng was expected to miss the rest of the season because of the injury, sustained during a victory over Memphis on March 28.