EVANS SEALS DEAL FOR LAKERS GUARD LOCKS DOWN ON CARTER IN FOURTH LAKERS 99, N.J. 95.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For all the last-second shots he has compiled in his career, Kobe Bryant has earned the reputation as the NBA's top closer, the player general managers voted they would most trust with the game on the line.

On a night, however, that he battled both a respiratory infection and foul trouble, Bryant needed a reliever of his own in Maurice Evans, looking more like a summer steal for the Lakers almost by the day.

Evans dug in on defense in the fourth quarter and held Vince Carter to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting as the Lakers secured a 99-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets. Through three quarters, Carter had scored 31 points and made 12 of 24shots.

Evans bodied up Carter, stuck a hand in his face, forced him to take tough shots and reminded reporters afterward, ``I came here because I want to play.''

Not soon after, Evans struggled to pronounce the name of the player for whom he was traded.

That would be Cheick Samb, a 7-foot-1, 195-pound center -- apparently weighing less than Sasha Vujacic -- a second-round pick whom the Lakers sent to the Detroit on draft night for Evans, no longer wanted by the Pistons.

``He really is a player that we need at this time,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of Evans, who also scored 12 of the Lakers' 40bench points.

The Lakers were in control and ahead by eight with two minutes remaining but had to hold on to win. It came down to a final possession for NewJersey with a chance to tie in the last 14 seconds.

The Nets nearly scrambled the Lakers before Evans wrapped up Carter with a foul to give. On their second try, Carter worked to free himself but missed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds to play.

``If he hit it, he hit it,'' Evans said. ``But he had to work like heck to get open. I fouled the dude, made them reset a whole play. He had to run around like three screens just to try and get a look at it.

``If you think about that, that's a lot to try and get onecrack at it. And then Luke (Walton) was right there as well, so I'll live and die with that every day.''

So the Lakers won for the second time in three games on this road trip, needing only one more win before heading home to secure the split that Jackson wanted.

Bryant finished with 21points and 11 assists, making 4 of 13 shots and going 11 of 12 from the foul line. He stayed behind while the rest of the team went to the morning shootaround, spent the day in bed and camped out in the trainer's room pregame.

``I've been struggling with it right before we left, since we came out on this road trip,'' Bryant said. ``I've been trying to fight it off but last night it just caught up to me.''

He didn't take a shot in the first 8 1/2 minutes and had little choice but to move the ball with the Nets overloading their defense, committing two and three players to stopping him.

``This is one of those teams that's just absolutely bent on me not scoring and they throw everything but the kitchen sink,'' Bryant said. ``The challenge that I have now is to make teams like this see I can be just as big a threat passing as I can scoring the ball.''

Where Bryant struggled most was on the defensive end. He held Carter to 21 points when the teams played in Los Angeles last month, but Carter totaled 14points in the second and 13points in the third quarter Friday.

``He was frustrated tonight with some of the things that were going on out there,'' Jackson said. ``He likes to do a better job on Carter; his energy wasn't as good as he could have and (he) got in foul trouble.''

Bryant picked up his thirdfoul with 4:57 left in the third, a questionable call on a Carter drive, and was whistled for his fourth as he bowled over Carter on a drive with 1:22 remaining in the third.

As a result, Evans spent the rest of the night on Carter. When the Lakers broke open the game in the fourth, Carter missed three of four shots against Evans.

``I thought Mo just stuck with his body,'' Jackson said, ``and just played him body to body the way we wanted to play him with some physical nature and I thought he did a good job, good relief.''

After the game, Evans thanked the man who sent him to the Lakers, where he has found a new home and 26 minutes some games.

``I thank Joe Dumars, again, it was just a classy move on his behalf,'' Evans said. ``Detroit was kind of stacked and he allowed me to seek a trade and this was a good fit in my opinion.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, right, gets around New Jersey guard Jason Kidd in the fourth quarter.

(2) New Jersey's Mikki Moore, left, fouls the Lakers' Kobe Bryant as he blocks his shot during the fourth quarter.

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press