Jason Kidd had 15 points and 14 assists to help the New Jersey Nets overcome Kobe Bryant's 31 points and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-102 Sunday night.

Richard Jefferson had 27 points for the Nets, who have won three straight following a six-game losing streak. Vince Carter had 19 points in a reserve role and Bostjan Nachbar scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Bryant, Kidd's teammate on the U.S. national team, made 15 straight free throws before missing a clutch foul shot with 6.1 seconds to go. The two-time defending NBA scoring champ started out 3-for-16 from the field, going the entire second and third quarters without a basket. His next one came on a layup with 6:13 to play. But during his drought, New Jersey had turned a 14-point deficit into an 85-72 lead with a 16-3 run.

Carter triggered the Nets' rally, hitting a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left in the third quarter to tie the score at 72-all. The Nets took their first lead of the game 24 seconds into the fourth on Nachbar's layup, and Jefferson capped the run on a layup that gave New Jersey an 84-74 lead with 8:39 remaining.

Bryant made a three-point play and a pair of 3-point baskets, all in a 55-second span, and Sasha Vujacic followed with another 3-pointer -- his only points of the game -- to give the Lakers a 96-94 edge with 1:28 left. But the Nets still managed to come out with the win.

The Nets had a three-point lead when Bryant was fouled by Kidd behind the 3-point line on an inbounds play. He sank the first two free throws, but missed the third and Nachbar got the rebound. He made one of two at the other end after getting fouled immediately by Luke Walton, and Vladimir Radmanovic missed an attempted tying 3-point shot at the buzzer.

Derek Fisher, who had 20 points, helped Los Angeles build a 49-37 halftime lead by going 5-for-5 from the field -- with all of his shots coming from at least 18 feet out with Kidd guarding him. The Lakers took their biggest lead, 47-33, on Lamar Odom's 3-pointer with 3:14 left in the second quarter.

One of the game's highlight-reel moments occurred early in the second quarter after Kidd missed a driving layup and the Lakers took off on a fastbreak. It resulted in one of Bryant's seven assists.

Jordan Farmar, hanging out at the midcourt line, got a long lead pass and raced downcourt with Carter bearing down on him. The second-year point guard then made a behind-the-back pass in the lane to Bryant, who in turn made another behind-the-pass to Odom for a slam dunk that gave Los Angeles a 36-27 lead with 7:27 left in the half.

Odom had 16 points before fouling out in the final minute.

The Nets finished 3-1 on the road trip, only the third time in the franchise's NBA history that they had a winning record on their annual Thanksgiving trip. They were 3-2 in 1998-99 and 3-1 in 1992-93. Since Kidd's arrival in 2001-02, they have gone a combined 11-21 during their Thanksgiving trips, including 0-4 last season.

Game notes
Bryant and Kidd have faced each other 22 times in the regular season. Kidd is 9-13 in those games, 6-3 with the Nets and 3-10 with Phoenix. Kidd missed two head-to-head duels with Bryant because of a broken ankle. Bryant missed three matchups with Kidd because of sprained ankles, and two others while serving suspensions for fighting with Chris Childs and Reggie Miller. ... Kidd's highest regular-season point total against Bryant was 35 points on Nov. 27, 2005, in the Nets' 102-96 overtime win at Staples Center. Bryant's highest total against Kidd was 38, on Dec. 28, 2000, in a 115-78 win at Phoenix. ... Bryant has an 8-1 edge over Kidd in the postseason, including a four-game sweep of the Nets in the 2002 Finals.

Vince Carter is proving just how valuable he is to not only the New Jersey Nets' success, but Richard Jefferson's as well.

With Carter back in the lineup, the Nets look to win their third straight on Sunday when they wrap up their four-game road trip with a matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

After losing all five games Carter missed because of a sprained right ankle, New Jersey (6-7) has won two straight with its eight-time All-Star back on the court.

Carter had 15 points in 35 minutes off the bench in Friday's 98-93 win over Seattle after scoring 13 in Wednesday's 106-101 victory at Portland.

Jefferson has benefited the most with Carter in the lineup, as he had his second straight 30-point game on Friday. Jefferson, averaging a career-high 24.9 points, scored 21.6 on 40.0 percent shooting in the games Carter missed compared to 27.0 while making 49.6 percent of his shots in the eight games with him.

"With all of us out there, it just makes us hard to guard and everybody benefits," Carter said.

Even with Carter back, Jefferson is still looking for a better team effort from the Nets. In Friday's win, New Jersey had a 13-point third-quarter lead cut to one in the final minute of the game before Jefferson had a layup and two free throws to seal the victory.

"I'm always going to look on the brighter side, I'm always optimistic, but if we want more, we've got to expect better from ourselves," said Jefferson, who has already made 116 free throws this season. "We can do a lot better, and as happy as I am to have a win and to get back-to-back wins and it looks like we're starting to play better, you can't just be happy with wins."

The Nets improved to 2-1 on their annual Thanksgiving road trip, and a victory in this game would give them their first winning record on the trip since 1998-99, when they won three of five. New Jersey, however, has not won three straight road games since taking six in a row March 12-April 9, 2006.

Los Angeles (7-5) is coming off a 107-94 loss at Boston on Friday, its second straight defeat following a four-game winning streak.

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points and is averaging 29.0 on 43.6 percent shooting in his last three games after averaging 18.5 on 35.3 percent shooting in his previous two.

In two games against the Nets last season, Bryant averaged 20.0 points on just 12-of-37 shooting (32.4 percent), but did post 10.5 assists - his most against any opponent. Bryant has been held to 21 points or less in five of his last seven games against New Jersey.

The Lakers, who finished with one victory on their three-game trip against Eastern Conference opponents, return to Staples Center, where they have won three straight by an average of 18.0 points. Los Angeles has won four of six at home this season.

In two games against Los Angeles last season, Carter averaged 27.0 points and 8.0 rebounds, while Jefferson averaged 16.0 points.

The Lakers swept two games from the Nets last season after New Jersey won both meetings in 2005-06.