EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., March 22 (Ticker) -- Vince Carter gradually is putting the New Jersey Nets back in the playoff race.

Carter scored 33 points and helped spark a fourth-quarter comeback as the New Jersey Nets won their season-high fifth straight game, a 98-91 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

The Nets (32-36) defeated Pacers for the second time in three days and moved within one game of Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Indiana (33-33) is in seventh place, one game ahead of the 76ers.

After scoring 39 points against the Pacers on Sunday, Carter reached the 30-point mark for the 16th time since joining the Nets before he fouled out in the final minute.

"We are just winning games," Carter said. "Let's keep it that way. I just think that we are focused and playing through any mistakes we make during the game. We are playing through fatigue, playing through runs, playing through everything that can possibly happen."

"Right now, we're trying to string together as many (wins) as we can," Nets guard Jason Kidd said. "As long as I've been here, it's not how you start, but how you finish. Right now, we are playing our best basketball."

After Anthony Johnson made a 3-pointer to give Indiana a 78-73 lead with 8:41 remaining, rookie Nenad Krstic scored five consecutive points and Carter followed his own miss to put the Nets on top, 80-78, with 6:20 left.

Reggie Miller tied the score with a 22-footer before Krstic made a basket, Kidd nailed a 3-pointer and Carter sank a hook shot to complete a 14-2 burst for an 87-80 lead with 4:20 remaining.

Kidd collected 16 points and nine assists, Krstic added 15 points and reserve Cliff Robinson chipped in 10 for the Nets, who made 10-of-14 shots in the final period and had a 42-30 rebounding edge.

"Jason Kidd and Carter are real difference-makers," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "Carter had another good game and Kidd was great all around."

Stephen Jackson, who made 12-of-13 free throws, scored 23 points to lead five Pacers in double figures. Miller added 14 points, leaving him just 12 from becoming the 13th player with 25,000.

Indiana jumped out to a 34-26 lead after making 8-of-16 shots from the floor and 16-of-17 from the line in an opening quarter that saw 19 fouls called. The Pacers made 23-of-24 free throws in the first half en route to a 53-45 edge at the break.

"We played well in the first half and got some calls and in the second half things really turned on us," Pacers forward Austin Croshere said. "They picked up their intensity."

In the second half, the foul problems caught up to the Pacers, who had Croshere and Jackson on the bench for long stretches in the fourth quarter. Jackson fouled out with 1:10 left.

"The foul trouble throughout the game was a factor," Carlisle said. "We committed some bad fouls and other maybe you could question. We were kind of juggling all night long."

"Every game you have to adjust to the officials," New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said. "That is the job of the coaches and players. I thought our guys picked up the intensity in the second half. We obviously made some huge shots."

Originally posted by herothree at 2005-3-23 06:29 PM:
nets are gonna be in if u ask mei

well...
as i said in many many other posts...POOR MILLER
my first known basketball star

Originally posted by zatoichi at 2005-3-24 11:24 AM:
Vince can really play good if he's hyped up and confident. I hope Kidd can recover quick too. It'll be interesting to see when R. Jefferson is back.

Originally posted by catbert at 2005-3-24 11:24 AM:
I always consider C ...