SAN ANTONIO – Tim Duncan made a quick return to the Spurs lineup after leaving his last game with an injury, and had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead San Antonio past the New Jersey Nets 90-74 Tuesday night.

Reserve guard Devin Brown had a game-high 22 points for the Spurs, who expected Duncan to miss this game after leaving Sunday’s win against Utah with a sprained right ankle less than four minutes into the second half.

The Nets struggled early, hitting just 4 of their first 25 shots. Vince Carter, who had a season-high 43 points against the Spurs on Feb. 11, missing his first seven shots and finished with 13 points on 4-for-18 shooting. It ended Carter’s streak of 18 games with at least 20 points.

Nenad Krstic was the only New Jersey player who didn’t have any trouble with his shots, hitting 8-of-10 from the floor for a team-high 19 points.

New Jersey trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half, before turning it around with 9-of-18 shooting from the floor to start the second half. The Nets shot 32 percent (26-for-81) for the game.

New Jersey cut the Spurs’ lead to 60-54 on Rodney Buford’s jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 2:20 left in the third quarter.

However, the Spurs closed the period with an 8-4 run and extended their lead to as many as 19 points in the fourth.

Notes: New Jersey’s loss dropped the Eastern Conference to 0-13 at the SBC Center this season. The Spurs have not lost a home game against an East team since a 98-96 defeat to New Orleans on Jan. 24, 2004. … San Antonio’s Tony Massenburg was ejected from the game after throwing an elbow at the Nets’ Jason Collins and tossing the ball in the direction of an official. Collins stayed in the game but fouled out a minute later. … The Spurs activated reserve guard Mike Wilks after he spent five games on the injured list because of left patella tendinitis.

AP-ES-03-08-05 2326EST