East Rutherford, N.J. -- The snow was coming down hard and fast outside and for the first half it felt like the New Jersey Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves were themselves snowed in. Nobody it seemed could hit a shot.

And worse, New Jersey was turning the ball over way too much, amassing 12 gaffes in the first half.

But fortunately for the Nets (23-29), they found a groove and a group that was able to help them find separation in the third quarter. They used that energy and carried it over to hold on in the fourth and beat the Wolves 92-88 at IZOD Center. It was the third consecutive win for the Nets, who play their final game before the all-star break Wednesday night in Toronto.

“Those guys changed the game,” said Nets Coach Lawrence Frank, referring to the players on the floor who helped the Nets extend to a 10 point lead by the end of the third.

“Jason (Kidd), (Bostjan Nachbar), Antoine (Wright), Josh (Boone) and Sean (Williams). Those guys really sparked us tonight. We found a way to win tonight and that group was largely responsible for it.”

“We got some stops and we finally converted some extra buckets,” said Richard Jefferson (13 points, 12 re bounds). “It seemed like whichever team scored some consistent points was going to be the team to run and kind of separate themselves.”

And that is what the Nets did. Plus, in the second half, they turned the ball over just two times.

“We made enough plays,” said Frank. “We found a way; we had to grind it out.”

Vince Carter led the team with 17 points. He also dished a season-high 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds. Jason Kidd – again – nearly had his 100th triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Bostjan Nachbar was huge off the bench, scoring all 14 of his points in the second half.

Josh Boone grabbed 11 boards, had a career-high four blocks, and scored eight points and Nenad Krstic had 10 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes of play. All five of Krstic’s field goals were assisted by Carter.

Sebastian Telfair scored 24 points and dished seven assists for the Wolves, but the Nets did a good job on center Al Jefferson, who torched them for 40 points and 19 rebounds in their last meeting. Tonight, he had a more manageable 16 points, on 5 of 18 shooting, and 11 rebounds.

“Every time he caught it we double teamed him, with the exception of the overload when we did a little something different,” said Frank, of Jefferson. “On all those post ups we wanted to get the ball out of his hands and it really was a team commitment because we didn’t want to leave anyone there one on one.”

“We were double teaming him, tried getting the ball out of his hands and if not, I was just trying to push him out as far as possible,” said Boone.

Carter began all scoring in the fourth with a jam, giving the Nets a 12-point lead. But the T-Wolves fought back, cutting the Nets advantage to five four different times down the stretch. Telfair’s three-point play with 2:25 got Minnesota within 82-78. Then Kidd promptly knocked down a three – assisted by Carter – putting New Jersey back up seven. It was the critical dagger.

In the third quarter, New Jersey used a 7-0 run to create some separation. Nachbar scored 10, including two conventional three-point plays, and was pivotal in the Nets extending to a 66-56 lead by quarter’s end.

The Nets and Timberwolves struggled equally from the field in the first half, as the teams combined for 28-of-79 (35 percent) shooting. They were tied at 16 at the end of one and the Nets held a 38-35 lead at the half. Carter was the only scorer in double-figures with 10, but it was on 3-of-10 shooting. Three Nets had seven rebounds helping New Jersey to a 33-19 first-half rebounding advantage, including 11-3 on the offensive glass. Unfortunately, it only amounted to an 8-4 advantage in second chance points.

Notes

- With the Nets holding a five-point lead with seven and a half minutes to go in the game, Vince Carter came up with a steal in the backcourt and went in for a breathtaking 360 degree dunk. It was the Continental Flight of the Night as shown in the arena.

What's the Point (Guard Situation)?

Nets back up point guard Marcus Williams received a DNP-Coach’s Decision in the Nets win tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the three games previous, the second-year player has not had more than a three-minute cameo and in the previous five games has not scored a point. This comes on the heels of a 10-game stretch where Williams averaged 11 minutes a game. That stretch was started with a memorable individual performance in his home town of Los Angeles where he had 17 points and four assists in 22 minutes.

Veteran Darrell Armstrong has been the one getting the lion share of the run behind Jason Kidd lately. He played 13 minutes against the Timberwolves and has had double-digits in minutes played over his last four, beginning in Orlando on February 6th.

“Going into Orlando I went with Darrell (Armstrong) just to kind of tap into the fact of (him) having played there,” explained Coach Lawrence Frank.

“And he played pretty well so then going into Charlotte the fact that he is from Gastonia and he put together more stretches. The way I look at it is that both guys are capable. If backed into a corner, I’d say that Marcus is the back up but Darrell is as a third point guard or guy that you throw in there and see. The fact that he’s played pretty well has merited it but it’s going to come back around either way. I think both guys are capable and I think Darrell has done a good job and he’s done a good job of organizing being efficient and of hitting singles and just trying to keep that unit to be efficient. And he’s had some good moments. Marcus, the same as well. I think Marcus obviously we think has a very bright future and he’ll get another crack at it.”

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