East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Vince Carter poured in 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and the New Jersey Nets defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, 102-96.

Richard Jefferson scored 28 points for the Nets, who won their season- high fourth straight, and their sixth in seven games to get back to .500 on the season (16-16). Jason Kidd notched yet another triple-double, his eighth of the season, with 11 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds.

"I think the last seven games ... we've been playing pretty good," said Kidd. "We've been scoring a lot of points, and that's probably taking a little pressure off our defense, but everybody's pitching in."

Jason Richardson scored 33 points and raked in eight rebounds for the Bobcats, who have dropped two in a row and six of seven. Gerald Wallace had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Jeff McInnis added 13 points for Charlotte.

A 15-1 Nets run that bridged the third and fourth quarters put New Jersey in the driver's seat. The Nets closed the third with seven straight points, and opened the fourth with five straight. One-of-two free throws by Emeka Okafor cut the Nets lead to 74-68, but Darrell Armstrong answered with a three- pointer to put New Jersey up 77-68 with 9:52 remaining.

Charlotte cut the deficit to five points later in the fourth, but the Nets pushed their lead back to 12 points after a Carter dunk was followed by consecutive Jefferson baskets, putting New Jersey up 93-81 with 3:21 remaining.

The Nets held on down the stretch for the win.

Richardson was unstoppable in the first quarter, scoring 16 points in the frame as the Bobcats took early control. A Richardson three closed an 11-0 Bobcats run, and posted Charlotte to a 22-10 lead with 4:29 left. That three kicked off a stretch when Richardson scored 10 straight Bobcats points, and Charlotte took a 31-21 lead into the second quarter.

Charlotte led by 13 points early in the quarter, but the Nets chipped away, and trailed by only six at the half, 48-42.

New Jersey scored six straight points to open the third quarter, tying the game at 48-48 on a Sean Williams layup with 10:13 remaining. The teams traded brief runs in the quarter, and the Nets pushed in front, 69-67, heading into the final 12 minutes.

"We didn't make as many shots," said Bobcats head coach Sam Vincent of the difference between the first quarter and the rest of the game. "We still pushed the ball, but I don't think we pushed it as effectively as we did in the first quarter, and that was a big part of why we just didn't get as many shots."