NEW YORK, 8 December 2004 — Jason Kidd returned to the New Jersey lineup and assisted on Richard Jefferson’s game winning basket with 7.1 seconds left as the Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 88-86 in NBA play Monday in East Rutherford.
The Nets won their second straight game and improved to just 5-12 at the expense of the Raptors (7-13), who have lost 13 of their last 17 games.
Kidd missed the first 16 games of the season and returned with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes with the Nets restricting his playing time.
But his return lifted the spirits of the Nets, who struggled without him and are in last place in the Atlantic Division.
The Raptors had a chance to tie the game after Jefferson’s basket, but Vince Carter missed a diving lay-up at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Jefferson had 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the Nets as New Jersey out-rebounded Toronto 61-36.
Eric Williams added 12 points for the Nets and Alonzo Mourning had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Carter led Toronto with 22 points and Chris Bosh added 15.
In other NBA games, Antoine Walker had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Atlanta Hawks past the Philadelphia 76ers 96-92.
Al Harrington added 21 points for the Hawks, who snapped a nine-game losing streak. Predrag Drobnjak added 20 points and nine rebounds.
Allen Iverson led the Sixers with 36 points and Kyle Korver added 14.
In Dallas, Chauncey Billups scored 24 points and eight assists as the Detroit Pistons beat the Mavericks 101-85.
Richard Hamilton had 19 points for Detroit and Ben Wallace hauled down 15 rebounds and had eight points.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and eight rebounds for Dallas, while Erick Dampier added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
In Chicago, Tony Parker had 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 91-75 win over the Bulls. Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who are an NBA best 16-3 with the win. Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who shot less than 40 percent.
In Salt Lake City, Dwyane Wade scored 23 points in the Heat’s 100-80 win over the Utah Jazz.
Shaquille O’Neal added 21 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, including the 10,000th rebound of his NBA career.
Matt Harpring and Kirk Snyder both added 12 points for the Jazz, who have lost of five straight and seven of their last eight.
In Denver, the Nuggets beat the Orlando Magic 115-102 and Andre Miller scored 29 points. Carmelo Anthony had 28 points for Denver, while Kenyon Martin added 23. The Nuggets scored 68 points in the first half.
Dwight Howard and Steve Francis led the Magic with 23 points each.
In Oakland, Troy Murphy had 30 points and 15 rebounds in the Golden State Warriors’ 110-106 win over the Boston Celtics. James Richardson added 17 points for Golden State. Paul Pierce led Boston with 26 points.
In Los Angeles, the Clippers edged the Charlotte Hornets 99-93 in double overtime with Corey Maggette scoring 33 points and 11 rebounds. Primoz Brezec and Jason Kapono led Charlotte with 14 points each.
