East Rutherford, N.J. -- If you were told that tonight’s game between the New Jersey Nets (21-29 coming in) and Dallas Mavericks (34-15 at the start) was a breather in the fourth quarter - a game really not in doubt from even the third quarter – the assumption would probably be that it was the Mavs, with reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki, who were the winners.

And you would not be thought of any less for having that assumption, but you would certainly be wrong as it was the Nets who came away with a spirited and energetic 101-82 victory at IZOD Center.

Led by Vince Carter (game-high 29 points, nine rebounds), who literally was smacked into consciousness in the second quarter by a Brandon Bass elbow to the side of the head, the Nets used a 21-0 run bridging the second and third quarters to open up the game. All told the run ended up being a 36-6 sledgehammer that took the Nets from down 36-25 with 6:43 before halftime to up 61-42 with 6:54 in the third. The Mavericks came no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Carter had 21 of his points in the second and third quarters and shot 8-of-11 in that time span. All of it came after he was knocked to the floor by the Bass elbow and laid there as the Mavs scored on the other end. He was taken out of the game at the 8:23 mark of the second.

“I saw stars, stripes, just everything, little birdies, just everything,” said Carter, who checked back in three minutes later.

“It was one of those things when you see it coming but you can’t move fast enough. When it hit me, I was just trying to hold on without hitting the floor too hard. I was a little sore but I just wanted to clear my head and go back out there.”

“I think when Vince came back in he got right into an attack-mode,” said Nets Head Coach Lawrence Frank.

Jason Kidd had 13 points, 14 assists, and six rebounds, Richard Jefferson scored 19 and boarded seven rebounds, and Sean Williams had 15 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks off the bench.

Williams, Jefferson, and Josh Boone were also keys in the way they defended Nowitzki, who scored 21 but on 4 of 16 shooting. He was 13 of 14 from the line but scored just two points across the second and third quarters, when the Nets made their decisive run. He also grabbed eight rebounds.

“With a guy who’s an MVP player like that sometimes you get lucky in that it just wasn’t his night,” said Frank, deferentially.

“But I thought our guys had good effort…Everyone contributed who played, a solid team win, and in order to beat a high-level team like Dallas, that’s what you need. So, good win, especially on the defensive end and offensively we had some stretches of high efficiency.”

Nenad Krstic, who continues his progression coming back from last season’s torn ACL, had eight points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

“I think we stayed aggressive,” said Kidd, who helped the Nets to a 21-5 advantage in fast-break points and fell four rebounds shy of his 100th triple-double.

“The big thing is we had good looks and made quite a few of them tonight and I think that’s what kept us going.”

Josh Howard had 16 points for the Mavs, who shot 37 percent on the night. Off the bench Bass had 13 points and six rebounds and Jason Terry scored 11.

The Nets have now won two straight games and look to make it three against the Timberwolves on Tuesday night at IZOD Center.

A Howard three-point play started all scoring in the fourth and cut Dallas’ deficit to 13 (77-64). The Nets, however, were not affected and pushed the lead right back to 19 thanks – almost in whole - to Sean Williams’ follow up lay up and then a three-point play. The rookie hit a 13-footer that bounced up and up and then in and then converted the free-throw. It gave the Nets an 83-64 lead with 9:29 to go. The Mavericks got no closer than 15 the rest of the way. The sequence that kind of typified the night for New Jersey was when Williams blocked a Nowitzki jumper, the Mavericks got the ball, and then Carter deflected a pass and went in for an uncontested dunk with 5:36 to go.

New Jersey shot out of the half with nine points unanswered. Carter’s three-pointer with 9:19 in third gave the Nets a 55-40 lead. And the Nets kept pushing: Carter’s free-throws with just under seven minutes opened up New Jersey’s lead to 61-42. Dallas got no closer than 15 through quarter’s end as the Nets carried a 77-61 lead into the fourth. Carter had 13 in the frame on 5-of-6 shooting as the Nets shot 69 percent and held the Mavs to 36 percent shooting.

The Mavericks pushed their run into the second quarter to the tune of 19-4 and opened up a 36-25 lead with just under seven minutes to go before halftime. But the Nets responded in kind with a 21-4 spurt. Carter scored eight in the run, as the Nets closed the half with 12 unanswered and led 46-40.

In the first quarter, the Nets jumped out to a 9-4 lead and never trailed until a 5-0 Dallas run to close out the quarter gave the Mavericks a 22-21 lead. Nowitzki had 11 points, including 5 of 6 from the line, while four Nets had four points apiece.

Notes - State of the Big Man Rotation

Prior to the Nets 101-82 victory over the Mavericks at IZOD Center, Coach Lawrence Frank said that Center Nenad Krstic will continue to start as he makes his return from last season's torn ACL and that through at least the all-star break he will stay on a restricted-minutes program. Think 15-17 minutes a game. Krstic played 17:22 against the Mavs and had eight points and eight rebounds.

“I think it’s going to come for Nenad,” said Frank. “He’s working hard. You can’t simulate missing really a year. He had a blip where he played 12 games (to start the season) but he really didn’t play a lot. It’s like starting over. He’ll be fine; it’s just going to take a little bit of time. I think we’ll continue to see progress and I think we have.”

Krstic was at the Nets facility on Saturday, an off day for the team, “and shot and got some work in.”

Frank noted that he thinks it is better for Krstic to start, even with the restricted minutes, and that the move – which pushed rookie Sean Williams back to the second unit – should not be seen as a demotion to Williams.

“But I think that it can help both guys. Hopefully Sean can be an energy game changer guy in x-amount of minutes and I think Curly (Krstic) down the road is a starter and it’s just a matter of once his body catches up to his intent, I think he’ll be fine.”

It proved that way tonight, as Williams really was a game-changer. He had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks, and played solid defense in spurts on reigning NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki. In his two games back as a reserve, the rookie is averaging 13 points.

As for the big-man domino effect, Frank was then asked where he sees new acquisition Stromile Swift fitting into the equation. Swift played two garbage-time minutes tonight and had two points, a rebound, and an emphatic block of a Juwan Howard jump shot.

“Now you have Curly who you have to try to acclimate, Sean now moves down a spot – he was really good in Charlotte – and Sean and Stromile are similar, which is a good thing, but they have a lot of common traits. It’s not like he brings different things, he brings more experience, but if Sean’s going to play like he did in Charlotte, that’s a huge asset. The loyalty is to the team. At some point we are going to see what Stromile can do.”

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