Pacers lose to New Jersey, but will play Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS-- Maybe the Indiana Pacers can do better against Vince Carter Tuesday night. They sure couldn't handle him Sunday.\nCarter scored 39 points, including 14 in the third quarter, and New Jersey beat the Pacers 94-85 for a season-best fourth straight win. The Nets and Pacers will play again Tuesday at New Jersey.\n"We wanted to see how they would play me. We wanted to see how they would react to us and see where we could attack them," Carter said. "I just continued to attack and we stuck with what worked."\nThe Nets, who trailed most of the first quarter, took the lead in the second period and broke the game open in the third behind Carter and rookie center Nenad Krstic.\nTwo straight baskets by Krstic off assists from Jason Kidd and a basket by Carter put New Jersey up by 10 early in the third quarter. Anthony Johnson hit two 3-pointers to help keep the Pacers close, but Carter countered with a 3-pointer and two free throws, and Krstic scored again as the Nets built their lead to 17 late in the period.\n"With that performance out there, I'm not sure we want to see Vince Carter again. But that's the schedule," Johnson said. "We've got to go out and do better against him."\nReggie Miller, coming off a 39-point performance Friday night against the Lakers, was held to 13, although his steal and fast-break dunk and then free throw on a technical foul against Carter brought the Pacers within 12 midway through the final quarter.\nOnce again, though, Carter took over, scoring on an offensive rebound and then on a three-point play to push the lead to 83-66. Indiana never came closer than 10 until the final minutes, when 3-pointers by Miller and Fred Jones made it 91-85. Two free throws by Travis Best and one of two foul shots by Kidd finished the scoring in the closing seconds.\n"For us to come in here and get a win is big," Kidd said. "Now we have to go back and protect home court."\nKrstic finished with 18 points, while Kidd had 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.\nStephen Jackson led Indiana with 21 points despite being out from midway through the first quarter to the start of the second with a shin injury, while Johnson added 18 and Jones 14.\nNew Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said Carter's third-quarter scoring burst resulted from good defense by the Nets.\n"We were able to get consecutive stops, and then Vince obviously was very effective. ... He made a lot of perimeter shots and had a good diversity to his game," Frank said.\nThe loss snapped Indiana's three-game winning streak against New Jersey.\nPacers coach Rick Carlisle called Carter an "unusual player."\n"He can literally just take a dribble and jump over you from anywhere on the court," Carlisle said. "He threw in some shots that were breathtaking. ... When you let a great player get going like that, it's awful tough to deal with"