Carter-led Nets hand Jazz its first defeat

After spending the end of the third quarter in the locker room because of a strained right quad, Vince Carter scored 13 of his 30 points down the stretch in leading the New Jersey Nets to a 96-89 victory Wednesday night that knocked the visiting Utah Jazz from the unbeaten ranks.

“To see him come back and take over the game, that’s just Vince,” Jason Kidd said after beating Utah (4-1), leaving the New Orleans Hornets (4-0) as the NBA’s only undefeated team a little more than a week into the season.

Carter was hurt with 5:01 left in the third quarter when Gordan Giricek grabbed his shoulder on a layup that turned into a three-point play. He was three for five from the floor and seven for nine from the free-throw line in scoring 13 of the Nets’ final 20 points.

Richard Jefferson added 23 points for New Jersey. Carlos Boozer and Derek Fisher had 15 points apiece for Utah.

San Antonio 111, Phoenix 106 -- Tony Parker scored 29 points, Fabricio Oberto added 22 on 11-for-11 shooting and the Spurs scored 10 of the first 12 points in overtime of a game in which the visiting Suns’ Raja Bell missed one of two free throws with 1.5 seconds left in regulation.

The Suns (1-4) made two of six shots during overtime, and San Antonio made five of seven.

Steve Nash had 20 points and 11 assists for Phoenix.

Houston 97, Milwaukee 93 -- Tracy McGrady scored 32 points and teamed with Yao Ming to score all 17 points in the Rockets’ 17-7 run at the start of the third quarter at Milwaukee. Yao added 23 points.

Michael Redd scored 34 points for Milwaukee.

New York 109, Denver 107 -- Jamal Crawford scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and stole the ball from Eduardo Najera and made a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds left to help the Knicks overcome a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit at Denver. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 for Denver.

Sacramento 99, Detroit 86 -- Kevin Martin equaled his career high with 30 points to help lift the Kings past the Pistons, who missed 23 of their first 28 shots.

Chauncey Billups scored 25 points for Detroit, but Rasheed Wallace went scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting, though he did have 15 rebounds.

The Kings’ Ron Artest had 10 points and nine rebounds in his first game against the Pistons since the November 2004 brawl at Detroit.

Toronto 106, Philadelphia 104 -- Chris Bosh made a go-ahead three-pointer with 6.1 seconds left and finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in a victory at Toronto. Allen Iverson had 35 points and 10 assists for the 76ers.

Orlando 88, Seattle 87 -- Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 points, including a fallaway 20-footer with 0.4 seconds left, to lift the Magic to a home win.

It ended a three-minute stretch during which Orlando turned the ball over four times and missed its only field-goal attempt in falling behind, 87-86, after leading, 86-77. Ray Allen scored 21 for Seattle.

Washington 117, Indiana 91 -- Gilbert Arenas scored 40 points at Washington to lead the Wizards past the Pacers. Al Harrington scored 23 points for the Pacers, who once trailed by 36.

Boston 110, Charlotte 108 -- Delonte West made a jumper at the overtime buzzer, Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak each scored 35 points, and the host Celtics earned their first victory of the season.

Pierce also had a dubious triple-double with 12 turnovers to go with his 13 rebounds. Ryan Gomes had the usual kind with 10 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists for Boston.

Emeka Okafor had 28 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Bobcats.