Slam Dunk Central

New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd won this battle of the guards as he and forward Richard Jefferson provided clutch scoring, enabling the Nets to get past the Los Angeles Lakers 102-100 at the Staples Center Sunday night. Los Angeles held a 26-18 after one quarter; Lakers G Derek Fisher helped build a 49-37 lead at halftime by going 5-for-5 from the field.New Jersey built a rally, triggered by swingman Vince Carter; he would hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to tie the game at 72. The Nets would get their first lead of the game at 11:36 of the 4th quarter on a layup by Nets F Bostjan Nachbar, and Jefferson would cap the run with a layup that would give New Jersey an 84-74 lead with 8:39 left in the game.

Los Angeles’ Bryant made a 3-point play and a pair of 3-pointers - all in a 55 second span - followed by a 3-pointer by reserve G Sasha Vujacic to give the Lakers a 96-94 lead with 1:28 left. The Nets had a 3-point lead when Bryant was fouled by Kidd behind the 3-point arc; Kidd made the first 2, but missed the 3rd. Nachbar grabbed the offensive rebound as a result; Nachbar made 1 of 2 FT’s before getting fouled immediately by Lakers F Luke Walton. Los Angeles F Vladimir Radmanovic attempted a lst-second 3-pointer which missed, sealing the win for New Jersey.

Jefferson led all Nets players in scoring with 27 points; Carter, in his 3rd game back from an ankle injury, added 19 in 25 minutes. Kidd and Nachbar scored 15 apiece, with Kidd dishing out 14 assists. Los Angeles was led by the aforementioned Bryant with 31 points and 7 assists, while Fisher added 20. F Lamar Odom contributed 16 in a losing cause. New Jersey (7-7) returns home to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, while Los Angeles (7-6) stays put to host the Seattle SuperSonics, also on Tuesday night.