EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Richard Jefferson capped the highest scoring night of his career by sinking an alley-oop layup off an inbounds pass with 0.8 seconds left, giving the New Jersey Nets a 92-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Jefferson scored 42 points, the final two coming when he rolled free of defender LeBron James, caught Jabari Smith’s lob pass and dropped the ball through.

Cleveland had a final chance, but ex-Net Lucious Harris’ 3-point attempt was long.

Jefferson shot 12-for-20 from the field and 16-for-17 from the line for the Nets, who also got a career-high 22 points from Rodney Buford. Vince Carter, acquired last week from Toronto, was sidelined by a sore Achilles tendon. He expects to make his Nets debut Monday against Detroit.

James had 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, Jeff McInnis added 17 points and Ira Newble and Drew Gooden scored 14 apiece for the Cavaliers.

After James was called for a traveling violation, Jefferson matched his career-high of 39 by converting a three-point play with 1:53 left for an 89-87 lead.

James was whistled for another traveling violation by the same referee with 1:28 remaining and picked up a technical foul eight seconds later for arguing. Jefferson hit the free throw to reach 40 points.

James had a dunk and then made one of two free throws to tie it at 90 with 43.6 seconds left. A missed jumper by Buford led to a jump ball with 17.5 seconds left, and the Cavs controlled it.

James missed a 10-foot runner, and New Jersey rebounded and called timeout with 1.5 seconds remaining to set up the final inbounds play.

New Jersey held Cleveland to 10 points and had an 18-0 run in the second quarter, and Buford ended the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 49-38 lead. The Cavs made their comeback in the third quarter, and James ended the period with a 3-pointer to pull the Cavs to 68-67.

Notes: This was only the second of Cleveland’s 26 games to be decided by four points or less. … The Cavs have lost six straight at the Meadowlands. … Nets F Brian Scalabrine strained his left hamstring in the second quarter and did not return. … Cleveland F Anderson Varejao sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and did not return. … With several minor trade rumors swirling around the Cavs, coach Paul Silas said nothing was imminent. “Jim (general manager Jim Paxson) and I haven’t discussed any moves at all. He’s talking to people all the time, but we’re really not even close,” Silas said.

AP-ES-12-22-04 2210EST