Krstic injured as Nets fall to Lakers

Dec 23, 2006, 4:05 GMT

East Rutherford, NJ - Kobe Bryant was suffering from a chest cold, but still had 21 points and a season-high 11 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 99-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets at Continental Airlines Arena.

Smush Parker scored 13 points and Maurice Evans donated 12 points for the Lakers, who have won two straight games.

'It was just the way they play me,' Bryant said about his assists. 'It's just one of those teams that is just bent on me not scoring. They just throw everything, but the kitchen sick. I can be just as big a threat passing the ball as scoring the ball.'

Vince Carter had 33 points and five rebounds while Richard Jefferson netted 18 for the Nets, who were denied their first three-game winning streak for the fourth time. Jason Kidd added 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds for New Jersey.

'They had 12 threes on us off good defense,' Jefferson said. 'It's tough. They played well tonight and we struggled.'

Brian Cook's trey pushed the lead to 10, 57-47, but New Jersey used a 13-3 rally, including seven points from Kidd, to tie the game at 60.

With 6:08 left in the third quarter, Nenad Krstic was fed the ball in the paint and made a spin move before his left knee buckled. He hit the deck and stayed on the ground until he was helped off the court, not putting any weight on the knee. Krstic will undergo an MRI on Saturday.

The Lakers countered with seven straight points, but the Nets countered with a 15-6 burst, capped by Carter's alley-oop, for a 75-73 margin. New Jersey led 76-75 heading into the final frame.

Tied 83-83, Los Angeles went on a 15-2 streak, with eight points coming from Bryant, for its biggest lead of the night, 98-85, with under three minutes on the clock. The Nets added fuel to the run by hitting just 1-of-9 during that span.

New Jersey scored 10 unanswered points, ending with Kidd's three with 37.7 seconds to play, cutting the deficit to three, 98-95, but Carter's trey with three ticks left hit off the back end of the rim.

Trailing 12-6, the Nets scored nine of the next 11 points, highlighted by Jefferson's three-point play, to take a 15-14 edge. However, the Lakers responded with a 12-6 spurt to close the quarter for a 26-21 lead.

Each team tallied 26 points in the second quarter and Los Angeles took a 52-47 halftime advantage.

Game Notes

Los Angeles shot 48 percent from the floor, compared to New Jersey, which connected on 41.7 percent of its shots from the field.

Cook finished with 11 points.

Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar each had 10 points for Los Angeles.

New Jersey's Mikki Moore ended with 10 points and eight boards.

The Nets committed only five turnovers.

The Nets tied a franchise record-low for turnovers in a game with five. It marked the sixth time in franchise history they've done that.

© 2006 The Sports Network