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Bobcats-Nets Preview

New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd isn't pausing to admire his accomplishments as he tries to lead the Nets to their longest winning streak of the season.

Kidd and the Nets will try for their fourth straight victory Friday when they host the Charlotte Bobcats.

Kidd had 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in Wednesday's 96-95 victory in Orlando, helping New Jersey (15-16) to its third three-game winning streak of the season. Kidd entered the game needing one assist for 9,000 and three rebounds to tie Magic Johnson for fourth place on the career list for rebounds by a guard. Kidd reached both milestones early in the game.

"When my career is over I will have plenty of time to look at my stats and see hopefully that I can keep climbing up the ladder," said Kidd, who has 6,566 rebounds -- seven more than Johnson. "Some of those guys are pretty good. I haven't really thought about that."

Kidd is averaging 11.5 points, 10.5 assists and 8.6 boards this season and has posted a double-double in each of the Nets' last three games.

Vince Carter chipped in 18 points Wednesday, Richard Jefferson had 14 and four reserves scored in double figures for the Nets, winners of five of six.

Jefferson tops the team with 24.5 points per game, while Carter is averaging 21.3.

"(Kidd) is the guy who leads us. It was fun to be out there with him, Vince, and Richard," said guard Darrell Armstrong, who had 13 points off the bench. "We were all doing it as a unit. We had faith, and you could see the momentum changing our way. It came down to who was going to get the biggest stop of the game."

The Nets are 7-11 on their home court this season, although they've won three of their last five there. They are 9-2 all-time against the Bobcats, but both of the losses have come in New Jersey.

Charlotte, however, has dropped 10 straight away from home after winning its first road game of the season in Miami on Nov. 4. The road losing streak is their longest since dropping 12 in a row from Jan. 2-Feb. 21, 2006.

The Bobcats (11-19) are coming off Wednesday's 109-97 home loss to Chicago. Jason Richardson scored 28 points and Gerald Wallace added 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but the Bulls took advantage of Charlotte coach Sam Vincent's decision to stick with a smaller lineup.

"They were crashing the board and getting a lot of second-chance points," Richardson said. "I played a lot of small ball at Golden State and that's what happens when you go small. But when you're a small team you've got to really focus more on rebounding."

Richardson has scored at least 25 points in six straight games while Wallace, who leads the Bobcats with 20.1 points per game, is averaging 25.6 over his last five.

"We have a pretty good rhythm going (with the way) we pick our spots, where he goes for some minutes and I go for some minutes," Wallace said. "We kind of balance the team like that. It's not like we have one guy that's trying to carry the whole load for 48 minutes."