EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Richard Jefferson scored a season-high 40 points, Jason Kidd had his 74th triple-double, and the New Jersey Nets extended the longest winning streak in the NBA this season to 14 by beating the Charlotte Bobcats 113-102 Thursday night.
The Nets also matched the longest winning streak in franchise history, having won 14 in a row from Jan. 25-Feb. 24, 2004. New Jersey broke a tie with Dallas for the longest winning streak in the NBA this season.
Once the blowout was ensured, the Nets even were able to get Kidd a final rebound in the last minute to add to his triple-double total. He finished with 13 points, 12 assists and 10 boards, moving within four triple-doubles of Wilt Chamberlain for third place on the career list.
Vince Carter added 20 points for the Nets, who pulled away in the third quarter by shooting 14-for-18 (78 percent) from the floor. Jefferson scored 26 points in the second half.
Raymond Felton scored 20 points and Primoz Brezec had 16 for the Bobcats, who stayed close with the Nets for 2 1/2 quarters before Jefferson and Kidd took over.
The Bobcats tied it for the final time at 64 on Felton's three-point play with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, but the Nets scored six straight points, taking a 70-64 when Kidd tipped a pass in the air to Carter for a layup.
Charlotte was within four later in the period, but Kidd hit a 3-pointer to spark a 13-4 surge that broke open the game. Jefferson scored six points during the surge, including two free throws that made it 85-72 with 6 seconds left in the quarter.
Jefferson made sure Charlotte wouldn't get close in the final quarter, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 92-76. He hit two more 3s later in the period, the final one pushing the lead to 107-86 with about 4 1/2 minutes to go.
Kidd (5,703 points) passed ex-Ute Keith Van Horn (5,700) for seventh place on the Nets' career scoring list.
PISTONS 95, HEAT 82: At Miami, the Detroit Pistons survived another frantic, late rally by the Miami Heat — and moved a big step closer to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs. Rasheed Wallace returned from his one-game suspension to score 20 points, Tayshaun Prince added 20 more and Richard Hamilton scored 19 as the Pistons saw most of a 12-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate before beating the injury-depleted Heat. Detroit (61-14) won its sixth straight and moved three games ahead of idle San Antonio in the race for the NBA's best record.
NUGGETS 110, LAKERS 108 (OT): At Denver, Carmelo Anthony's jumper with 3.8 seconds left in overtime gave Denver a 110-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. After two timeouts, Luke Walton was long on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Kobe Bryant, who scored 42 points, walked off the court dejected. Anthony scored 33 points to lead the Nuggets, who closed in on their first Northwest Division title since 1987-88. Any combination of Denver wins or Utah losses totaling two will give the Nuggets the crown. Bryant's big night included a four-point play that sent the game into overtime tied at 99. He broke Elgin Baylor's franchise record with his 24th 40-point game of the season.