By The Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Vince Carter scored 30 points and Jason Kidd set the tone as the New Jersey Nets took control early and completed a season sweep of the Chicago Bulls with a 100-84 victory Wednesday night.

Kidd had 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Nets posted their seventh straight win over the Bulls. Jason Collins had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Nenad Krstic added 11 points.

Carter enjoyed his third straight strong game against the Bulls since joining the Nets. He led New Jersey with 31 and 25 points in the prior victories.

The Bulls, who never led, played without leading scorer Eddy Curry (15.6 points per game) who missed the game with a left hamstring strain. They struggled to pick up the slack, with the bench doing most of the scoring as the starters combined for only 37 points.

Wizards 122, Hawks 93

ATLANTA – Gilbert Arenas had 29 points and Larry Hughes added 23 as the Washington Wizards had a season-high point total in a 122-93 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Wizards used a 24-2 run in the fourth quarter to win consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 9, a span of 13 games.

Pistons 102, Sonics 95

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Chauncey Billups scored 32 points and Rasheed Wallace had nine of his 24 during a key stretch of the fourth quarter to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 102-95 win over Seattle on Wednesday night for their 10th straight home win.

Rashard Lewis scored 26 for the SuperSonics, who had won their four previous road games.

Pacers 103, Jazz 84

INDIANAPOLIS – Stephen Jackson scored 28 points and the Indiana Pacers hit 37 of 43 free throws to beat the Utah Jazz 103-84 Wednesday night.

Utah outshot Indiana from the field, but the Pacers spent much of the night at the free throw line. Jackson shot just 6-of-16 from the field but was 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 12-of-12 on free throws.

Reggie Miller scored 15 points and Anthony Johnson 12 for Indiana. Mehmet Okur scored 16 points and Andrei Kirilenko 15 for Utah.

The Pacers hit all eight of their free throws in the first quarter, went 9-for-10 in the second period, 10-of-11 in the third and 10-of-14 in the fourth.

Bucks 96, Cavaliers 88

MILWAUKEE – Michael Redd scored 32 points and Joe Smith tied his season high with 21 as the Milwaukee Bucks withstood 34 points from LeBron James and defeated the Cavaliers 96-88 Wednesday night, extending Cleveland’s road losing streak to eight games.

James scored more than 30 points for the third straight game, Drew Gooden added 14, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 and 14 rebounds. But it wasn’t enough for the Cavaliers, who haven’t won on the road since a 105-87 victory at Golden State on Jan. 22. Cleveland plays four of its next six games on the road.

Grizzlies 88, Hornets 82

NEW ORLEANS – James Posey scored 20 points and Earl Watson 16 as the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies outlasted the New Orleans Hornets 88-82.

Brian Cardinal added 14 points and Lorenzen Wright 11 for the Grizzlies, who played more than half the game without Mike Miller, who was in foul trouble.

Rockets 108, Blazers 77

HOUSTON – David Wesley and Bob Sura scored 21 points each to lead the Houston Rockets to a their sixth straight win, 108-77 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Houston, which had its largest margin of victory this season, took the lead midway through the first quarter with a 10-2 run, and Portland never threatened again.

Nuggets 120, Bobcats 101

DENVER – Carmelo Anthony bounced back from his benching, scoring 25 points in just 21 minutes Wednesday night to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 120-101 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Nuggets shot 54 percent to hit the 120-point mark for the first time this season.

Keith Bogans had 19 points and Emeka Okafor had 17 points for Charlotte.

, which played the first of a three-game Western road swing. Seven of the expansion Bobcats’ 12 wins this season have come against teams from the Western Conference, including a 94-88 win over Denver last month.

Francisco Elson had 14 points and Earl Boykins added 10 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets, who pulled a full game ahead of the Lakers in the race for the final playoff spot in the West. This was the second of a seven-game homestand for the Nuggets, who had their eight-game winning streak – the longest in 17 seasons – snapped by the Suns.

Anthony watched the end of that one from the bench, a decision he said he didn’t understand. Both he and coach George Karl spent the next two days insisting it wasn’t a big deal. Karl contended that Anthony had actually been playing well, and the second-year star came out against the Bobcats and proved him right.

Working hard to get open in the post and on the perimeter, Anthony worked within the offense, and didn’t cause it to bog down, the way it has at times when he’s on the floor. He was at his versatile best early in the third quarter, when he made a 4-foot turnaround, a tip-in off a rebound and forced a shot in over 7-foot-1 Primoz Brezec to help the Nuggets keep their lead in double digits.

Charlotte pulled to 90-78 late in the third quarter, but Boykins sandwiched two long jumpers around Elson’s dunk to give Denver a 100-79 lead, and the only suspense over the final 10 minutes was whether Denver would reach the 120 mark. DerMarr Johnson made two free throws in the last minute to put the Nuggets right on the number.

The Nuggets played without Kenyon Martin, whose left knee is hurting, but Marcus Camby came back from his hamstring injury and finished with seven points and 12 rebounds.

Notes: The Bobcats used their sixth different starting lineup in March. … Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff returned to Denver; he was in Denver’s front office from 1990-97 and coached the team from 1994-96.

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