Nets hang on — Jersey builds huge lead, endures Heat comeback

MIAMI — Sitting on his lap after the game, Vince Carter's daughter crumpled a stat sheet in her tiny hands.

Maybe she should have kept the paper as a souvenir: It told the story of New Jersey's biggest win this season.

Carter scored 27 points, Jason Kidd added 22 and Richard Jefferson had 20 before leaving the game with an ankle injury as the Nets saw most of a 28-point third-quarter lead vanish — yet hung on to beat Miami 100-88 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night.

"We were just focused from the beginning," Carter said. "We wanted to come out and be aggressive and let everybody know that we can compete — and that we're a pretty good team ourselves."

Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, which got 20 points and 10 rebounds for Shaquille O'Neal — who was not effective until late, sitting most of the first half with foul trouble. Jason Williams added 12 points for the Heat, who were doomed by 17 turnovers that led to 24 New Jersey points.

"We didn't give ourselves a chance," Wade said.

Game 2 is Wednesday in Miami.

Cliff Robinson's 3-pointer with 9:53 left gave New Jersey an 89-65 lead, and many fans who booed the Heat on at least three occasions continued a steady stream up the stairs and into the Miami night.

They missed a valiant comeback, albeit one that ended in vain.

Miami rallied with an 18-3 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes. O'Neal had 11 points in the burst, including a putback to close the run with 4:21 left that drew Miami within 92-83.

But Carter answered with five straight New Jersey points, and Kidd delivered a backbreaking jumper with 1:56 left to restore a 13-point lead.

"We were lucky, obviously, to build that lead, because obviously, Miami made one heck of a run which you have to give them a lot of credit for," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

Frank was hardly celebratory after the game, his mind perhaps not on what his team had just won — but instead on who they may have lost.

Jefferson left in a walking boot after injuring his right ankle in the third quarter. X-rays were negative, but Frank was concerned — especially since Miami made its big run after Jefferson departed.

For his part, Jefferson sounded somewhat optimistic about his availability for Game 2.