EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Vince Carter scored 30 points and almost single-handedly held off Utah’s fourth-quarter run, leading the New Jersey Nets to a 96-89 victory on Wednesday night that knocked the Jazz from the unbeaten ranks.

Utah’s first loss in five games left the New Orleans Hornets (4-0) as the NBA’s only remaining undefeated team a little more than a week into the season.

Richard Jefferson added 23 points, Jason Kidd had 15 and Antoine Wright scored a career-high 15, including a clutch 3-pointer with 3:41 left in the final quarter after Utah had drawn within 85-84.

Carlos Boozer, the Western Conference player of the week, had 15 points for the Jazz, but he spent the fourth quarter on the bench as Jazz coach Jerry Sloan used Matt Harpring and Paul Millsap up front along with Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur.

Derek Fisher also scored 15 and Williams had 10 of his 14 points in the final quarter to help the Jazz nearly fight back from a 10-point deficit.

However, they never got closer than a point as Carter, who strained a quad in the third quarter and was listed as questionable for the fourth, scored 13 of the Nets’ final 20 points to prevent the Jazz from the third 5-0 start in their 32-year history.

Okur had nine of his 13 points in the final quarter. Kirilenko finished with six points on 2-of-10 shooting.

New Jersey, which led by as many as 14 points in the second half, had a 76-66 lead after Jefferson slammed home a dunk early in the fourth quarter.

Okur got the Jazz back in the game with five straight points and Utah kept inching closer the rest of the way.

After Wright’s 3-point gave New Jersey an 88-84 lead, Okur hit a free throw and Fisher added two more to cut the lead to 88-87. Carter then drove the lane for a basket with 2:14 to go before a layup by Harpring with 1:46 left got the Jazz within 90-89.

Carter hit two free throws to push the lead to 92-89 with 1:32 to play. Okur missed the next two shots, including a game-tying 3-point attempt with 35 seconds left, and the Nets were not threatened again.

Utah scored a season-low 41 points in the first half.

Notes: Clifford Robinson returned to the Nets’ lineup after sitting out the final two games of a five-game suspension for violating the NBA drug policy during the playoffs. …The game pitted the Collins brothers for the seventh time, Jason of the Nets and Jarron of the Jazz. … Utah averaged 106 points in winning its first four games.

AP-ES-11-08-06 2223EST