By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Vince Carter scored 27 points and Richard Jefferson added 23 to lead the New Jersey Nets to their sixth consecutive win, a 109-101 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

Carter has led New Jersey in scoring in all the six wins. He has averaged 34 points during that span, New Jersey’s longest winning streak since winning a franchise-record 14 straight in 2004.

Jason Kidd added nine assists and reserve forward Clifford Robinson had 16 points.

Reserve Nate Robinson scored 21 points and sparked brief scuffle under the Nets’ basket when he committed a hard foul on Jacque Vaughn with 7:07 remaining in the game and New Jersey up 101-89. There was some grabbing, but it was broken up without further incident.

Stephon Marbury also scored 21 points and Channing Frye added 18 for New York, which was trying to win consecutive games for only the second time this season.

New Jersey finished off a perfect three-game road trip before heading home to face LeBron James and Cleveland on Tuesday night.

The Nets’ lead ballooned to 17 points with 1:09 left in the third quarter as Kidd was able to drive through the porous New York defense at will, setting up teammates with uncontested jump shots. New Jersey led 93-75 after three.

Magic 108, Bucks 93

ORLANDO, Fla. – Steve Francis scored 21 points and Grant Hill added 20 to lead the Orlando Magic over the Milwaukee Bucks 108-93 Monday night.

Dwight Howard returned from a sprained right ankle that kept him out of most of Friday’s loss to the Lakers. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and gave the Magic a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter with an alley-oop from DeShawn Stevenson with 6:52 remaining.

Orlando snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the first time on its six-game homestand. The Magic had lost six of seven to the Bucks, who had won two straight overall and nine of their last 12.

The 108 points were a season high for Orlando, who came into the game 29th in the league in scoring, averaging 87.7 points.

Milwaukee star Michael Redd missed his first six shots and went 4-for-16 from the field. He was averaging 25 points but finished with 17. The rest of the Bucks weren’t shooting much better, hitting just 44 percent compared to 54 percent for the Magic.

Cavaliers 102, Bulls 91

CLEVELAND – LeBron James scored 12 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Chicago Bulls 102-91 Monday night.

James surpassed 30 points for the 16th time this season and ninth in December as the Cavaliers stretched their winning streak to six games. It was their second victory over Chicago in five days.

Drew Gooden scored 20 points and Larry Hughes added 19 as Cleveland improved to an Eastern Conference-best 12-3 at home.

Michael Sweetney, Chris Duhon and Tyson Chandler scored 15 apiece to lead the Bulls, who lost their fourth in a row.

Wizards 94, Lakers 91

WASHINGTON – Gilbert Arenas scored 34 points and keyed a second-half comeback to lead the Washington Wizards over the Los Angeles Lakers 94-91 Monday night for their third straight victory.

The Wizards ended the third quarter on a 21-3 run to take a 72-66 lead after trailing by nine at halftime and by as much as 16 in the second quarter. Arenas scored 10 points during the decisive run.

The Lakers trailed by three points with 16 seconds left and got the ball back after Washington turned it over on a late whistle against Arenas for traveling. But the Wizards double-teamed Kobe Bryant, who turned it over, and the Wizards ran out the clock for the victory.

The Wizards led throughout the fourth, though never by more than eight, and Bryant twice hit 3-pointers late in the period to bring the Lakers within three.

Washington’s second-half surge came after it shot just 15-of-45 from the field in the first half. Besides Arenas’ 7-for-14 half, the rest of the team made only 8-of-31.

Antawn Jamison added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards.

Bryant finished with 31 points after missing his first six shots. He scored 20 in the first half but was only 4-of-11 in the second half.

Smush Parker added 16 points for the Lakers, who were only 14-of-38 in the second half.

Kwame Brown, the Wizards’ No. 1 overall pick in 2001, returned to Washington for the first time since being traded to the Lakers. Heavily booed by the sellout crowd when he entered the game late in the first quarter, Brown finished with five points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.

The Lakers had a two-point lead when Brown entered the game and a 14-point cushion when he left eight minutes later.