Carter, Nets drop Bobcats 102-96

Vince Carter scored 30 points and the New Jersey Nets won a season-high fourth straight game with a 102-96 victory over Charlotte on Friday night, the Bobcats' 11th consecutive road loss.

An under-the-weather Richard Jefferson added 28 points, and Jason Kidd had 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his eighth triple-double of the season to help the Nets win for the sixth time in seven games.

Bostjan Nachbar had six of his 11 points in the run that helped the Nets take the lead, while Darrell Armstrong hit two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put away Charlotte.

Jason Richardson scored 33 points for Charlotte before fouling out with 1:17 to play. Gerald Wallace added 25 for the Bobcats, who have not won on the road since beating Miami in their first away game this season.

Charlotte was its own worst enemy, turning the ball over 21 times, which led to 29 points for New Jersey.

The Nets, who trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, didn't take their first lead until Carter took a pass from Nachbar and hit a layup for a 69-67 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

Charlotte never got the lead again as the Nets opened the fourth quarter with an 11-3 spurt that featured two 3s by Armsstrong, a basket and a free throw by Nachbar and a layup by Carter.

Armstrong's second 3 gave New Jersey an 80-70 lead and it capped an 18-3 spurt that bridged the final 3:39 of the third quarter and the opening 3 minutes of the fourth.

Charlotte was 0-for-8 from the field and had eight turnovers during the game-deciding run.

Former Net Jeff McInnis had 13 points for Charlotte and Emeka Okafor had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Taking advantage of an early 4-for-18 shooting slump by the Nets, the Bobcats built a 10-point lead after the first quarter and they increased the margin to 13 in the opening minutes of the second.

The Nets spent the next two quarters battling to get back in the game.

Notes:@ Wallace, who had 12 rebounds, took two hard falls in the third quarter after being hit on drives to the basket. Only one foul was called. ... Carter scored the Nets final 11 points in the first quarter. ... Richardson had 16 of the Bobcats' 31 in the period. ... Referee Bob Delaney saw Kidd in the hallway outside the Nets' locker room before the game and said "You know who was looking for you?" After Kidd asked "Who?" Delaney had the comeback: "No one." Kidd laughed. ... Richardson and Wallace have scored at least 20 points in four straight games, the first time two Bobcats have done that. ... Either Carter or Jefferson has led New Jersey in scoring in all but one game. ... New Jersey (16-16) is back at .500 for the first time since Dec. 1.