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San Antonio Spurs 101, New Jersey Nets 91
East Rutherford, NJ Feb. 11 / Wire Reports --
Bruce Bowen and the San Antonio Spurs couldn't get Vince Carter off his game, so they did the next best thing - they got him
kicked out.
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Tim Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Jennifer Pottheiser
Getty Images Sport
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Tony Parker scored 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs took over after Bowen got Carter so angry that
he picked up a second technical foul with 9:45 to go in San Antonio's 101-91 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday
night.
"That's probably the only way they would have stopped Vince tonight," Nets guard Jason Kidd said of Carter's 43-point
performance in 37 minutes. "He was really rolling."
The end for Carter came after he missed a jumper from the left wing. As he came down, Bowen got under him and they tangled
legs, with Carter falling to the court.
Carter, whose season was nearly ended last year when Bowen undercut him and caused an ankle injury, was visibly annoyed. He
screamed at the Spurs' forward and walked menacingly toward him.
Referee Courtney Kirkland got between the players, but the officiating crew was suddenly faced with a tough decision. They
had given both players technicals in the third quarter for pushing off on an out-of-bounds play, and this one seemingly
demanded another.
After conferring, Carter got his second technical. He pulled off his shirt and walked off the court in disgust. It was the
first time he was ejected from a game at any level.
"He was trying to pull, grab and hold me the whole game," Carter said. "It didn't bother me, so I don't know what their plan
or idea was. I know my goal was to go out there and be aggressive and play to win."
Bowen said all that happened was the two got tangled.
"I don't know what to say. I felt like he tried to trip me," said Bowen, one of the NBA's top defenders. "That's how I feel.
I haven't seen the replay but that's what I felt."
Nets coach Lawrence Frank said that the officials should have been aware of the history between the two players. Kidd said
calling a double foul would have been the right call.
"I felt it was a little more than needed out there and I reacted," Carter said.
"If he did come with a grudge, then he's worried about the wrong things," Bowen said.
The Nets, who had led by as many as 16 points, were suddenly in trouble clinging to a 72-67 lead.
"I thought the momentum had changed even when he was on the court," Parker said of Carter. "It changed the beginning of the
fourth quarter. We had a couple of steals and we cut the lead. It didn't hurt but we were already back in the game."
The Spurs took the lead for good at 88-82 on consecutive 3-pointers by Brent Barry and Manu Ginobili with 4:12 to go.
New Jersey got within a point twice, the last time on a jumper by Ron Mercer with 1:08 to go.
However, Parker hit a big 3-pointer with 46.9 seconds to go and he added four free throws down the stretch as San Antonio
closed the game with a 9-0 run.
"It was big for us," said Spurs center Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds. "They lose a guy who was seemingly
making every shot. They had to go somewhere else to try and find a way to get it done. It was a big boost for us."
Ginobili had 17 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
New Jersey's Nenad Krstic matched his career high with 17 points. Kidd had 11 points.
Carter scored 24 points in the first half and the Spurs shot 25 percent from the field as the Nets took a 40-32 halftime
lead.
Carter was 10-of-17 from the field from the field in the half, and there was a point with 5:16 to go in the second quarter
where his 20 points were two fewer than the Spurs' total.
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