MIAMI – Vince Carter tied a career high with 51 points, 37 in the second half, and the New Jersey Nets extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 95-88 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday night.

Carter had 19 points in the third, then 18 more in the fourth – including 12 straight free throws to seal the win. Jason Kidd added 12 points for the Nets, who beat Miami for the first time in 11 meetings, including a four-game sweep in last season’s playoffs.

Shaquille O’Neal had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade added 17 points – on only 4-for-20 shooting – for Miami, which hosts the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in a much-anticipated Christmas matchup.

And given the way the Heat couldn’t contain Carter, Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant – who had a 62-point effort against Dallas earlier this week – might be eagerly awaiting his chance to face Miami.

Carter was 13-for-25 from the floor and 23-for-24 from the foul line, easily eclipsing his previous season-best of 38 set against Cleveland on Dec. 9. He’s averaging 35.4 points on 49 percent shooting during the Nets’ winning streak.

Carter’s 23 free throws made were also a career high, one more than his previous best.

New Jersey trailed the whole first half, then used a 33-10 run to build a 76-60 lead with 9:24 left. Miami went on a 14-2 burst and drew within 78-74 on Gary Payton’s 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining, but the Heat got no closer in their second loss in six games under coach Pat Riley.

Antoine Walker had 12 points and James Posey added 10 for Miami, which shot only 37 percent from the field.

Miami led 24-12 after one quarter, after New Jersey missed 11 of its final 12 shots of the period on the way to its lowest-scoring period of the season.

The Nets’ only make in that stretch was a dunk by Richard Jefferson following a steal by Kidd. Jefferson, however, missed a slam earlier in that quarter while challenging Alonzo Mourning – one of three dunk tries that he couldn’t convert against the Heat’s backup center in the opening half.

Miami stretched its lead to 30-15 on a basket by Payton with 10:14 left in the half, but missed seven of its next eight shots – a stretch that doesn’t even include O’Neal missing five straight foul shots. And the drought helped New Jersey close within 32-25 on Carter’s jumper with 4:46 remaining.

The Heat’s lead grew to 40-25, but New Jersey closed the half on an 11-1 burst – capped by Jefferson’s 3-pointer from the left corner with 0.6 seconds left – and drew within 41-36 at intermission.

In the third, Miami continued to struggle offensively – and Carter took full advantage.

Carter had 14 straight New Jersey points during one span of the period, including a 3-pointer with 5:20 left that gave the Nets their first lead, 55-53. Another 3-pointer by Carter with 3:29 left in the period gave New Jersey an 60-58 lead, and started a 19-2 burst that gave the Nets control.

New Jersey finished the third up 69-60, with Carter’s 19 matching the Heat’s total output for the period. And seven straight points to open the fourth, with Marc Jackson hitting two jumpers and Scott Padgett connecting on a 3-pointer, gave the Nets a 16-point lead, their biggest of the night.

Notes: Miami has allowed a total of 21 first-quarter points in its last two games. Atlanta also established a season-low by scoring nine against the Heat on Tuesday; New Jersey’s previous low-scoring quarter this season was 14, managed on three occasions. … New Jersey’s didn’t make three straight shots at any point in the game’s first 22 minutes. … Miami’s string of six straight games scoring 100 or more points ended. … Nets forward Clifford Robinson moved into 18th place on the NBA’s all-time minutes played list. He now has 40,294, 14 more than Charles Oakley.

AP-ES-12-23-05 2226EST