Sports / Basketball |
Carter helps Nets clinch No. 7 seed(AP)Updated: 2007-04-17 10:59 Vince Carter had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and the New Jersey Nets clinched at least the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the New York Knicks 104-95 Monday night to complete a season sweep. New Jersey is still hoping to catch struggling Washington for the No. 6 seed and face Atlantic Division champion Toronto in the first round. The Nets (40-41), who have won three straight and five of six, finish their season Wednesday night at home against Chicago. Bostjan Nachbar added 19 points for the Nets, who won their sixth straight at Madison Square Garden and 10th in the last 11 meetings overall against their rivals across the Hudson River. New Jersey has won 22 of the last 26 in the series, including two victories in the last four nights, and is 20-4 against New York in the regular season since acquiring Jason Kidd. Steve Francis scored 26 points and Mardy Collins had 23 for the Knicks (32-49), who are limping to the finish. They have lost a season-high five straight and need a victory at Charlotte on Wednesday to avoid losing 50 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since doing it three straight times from 1984-87. The highlight for the Knicks was a brief appearance by Jamal Crawford after he missed the last 22 games with a broken right ankle. The Knicks' second-leading scorer was expected to miss the rest of the regular season after he was injured in late February, but was activated and played the final 30 seconds of the third quarter. But Stephon Marbury, David Lee and Renaldo Balkman were still sitting, and they were joined along the way by starting center Eddy Curry, who didn't play in the second half because of a strained right hamstring. The rest of the night belonged to the Nets, with Carter and Kidd receiving loud ovations. Carter had his second triple-double this season and fourth of his career, while Richard Jefferson added 15 points and Mikki Moore scored 14. The Knicks who did play showed fight, with Malik Rose and Jerome James delivering hard fouls and Nate Robinson picking up a flagrant. But they never really threatened in the second half and lost for the 13th time in 15 games. Carter (13) and Moore (12) combined for all but two New Jersey points in the first quarter, which ended with the Nets leading 27-25. The Nets quickly extended the lead to 13 after hitting four 3-pointers in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second, and they were ahead 55-44 at the break. |
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