Heat-Nets

Heat-Nets

Vince Carter made his case on Saturday that he should've been voted a starter for the Eastern Conference for this month's All-Star game. Carter had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double and the New Jersey Nets beat the Miami Heat 105-92 for their 10th straight home win. Carter put more than half of his points on the board in the first quarter when he was being guarded by the Heat's Dwyane Wade, the player who beat him out for one of the starting guard positions for the Eastern Conference. ``I was taking what they were giving me early,'' Carter said. ``I was free on some pick-and-rolls and was able to get into the lane and make things happen. Later I was able to find open guys and they were knocking them down.'' One player who benefited was forward Clifford Robinson, who started in place of ailing Nenad Krstic and responded with a season-high 23 points, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Richard Jefferson scored 26 for New Jersey (24-21), which shot 42-for-79 (53 percent) and never trailed in the game. Wade scored 31 points for the Heat (29-19), but got little help from his teammates, who shot 20-of-56 (36 percent). Antoine Walker scored 19 off the bench for Miami, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Nets' last two home wins have come against Miami and Detroit, the teams with the top two records in the Eastern Conference. What has kept them just barely over .500 is an inability to bottle that momentum and take it on the road, where they have lost six straight and nine of 10. ``We play at a high level at home, and I hope we can continue to do that and carry that on the road,'' Carter said. ``It seems like on the road we always dig ourselves a hole and have to fight out of it.'' No digging out was required Saturday, though on two occasions the Nets had to fend off rallies by the Heat. Miami scored 14 straight points to cut a 16-point deficit to two before halftime, and cut a 15-point lead to one spanning the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters. With the Nets clinging to an 84-83 lead, Robinson provided some breathing room with a three-point play on a backdoor layup off a pass from Jefferson. His 3-pointer with 3:27 left kicked off a 10-0 Nets run that increased the lead to 101-87 with less than 2 minutes remaining. ``I just tried to do what I had to do,'' said Robinson, who is in his 17th season and has been in the NBA longer than any other active player. ``I've been playing a long time, been a starter in this league and come off the bench too, and been effective at both. So to step in and start and be effective shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.'' With Krstic out with the flu, the job of defending Shaquille O'Neal fell to Jason Collins, and he neutralized the Heat center in the first half, allowing him only six shots and five points. O'Neal finished with 11 points, his fourth-lowest total of the season. ``It was a long day for us,'' said Heat guard Gary Payton, who was 0-for-6 and went scoreless. ``I couldn't make a shot. Shaq couldn't get it going. The only ones who kept us in it were Dwyane and Antoine, and Alonzo (Mourning) played well. We can't have just three people playing well.''