13. Vince Carter at Miami Heat, Dec. 23, 2005
The New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat were in the middle of the Eastern Conference pack when they met two days before Christmas in 2005, with New Jersey coming in 13-12 and Miami at 15-11.
The Nets got off to a slow, slow start and trailed 24-12 after a quarter and were still down 41-36 at the half.
Sir Charles In Charge
Then Vince Carter got his wake-up call.
The All-Star wing went nuts in the second half, scoring 37 points after the break as the Nets roared back for a 95-88 win.
It was an equal-opportunity explosion, as Carter scored 19 points in the third period and added 18 more in the fourth. He put the Nets up to stay with 3:27 left in the third period, canning a 3-pointer to start a 19-2 run that put the game out of reach.
On the night, Carter finished with 51 points, matching the career-high he had set on Feb. 27, 2000, with the Toronto Raptors.
He did his work off the bounce, getting to the free throw line 24 times and making 23, while hitting 13-of-25 from the floor and 2-of-5 from deep. Carter added eight rebounds and four assists while accounting for more than half of New Jersey’s offense.
Jason Kidd was the only other Net in double figures with 12 points.
Carter picked up his sixth straight All-Star nod in 2005-06, averaging 24.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 36.8 minutes per game while shooting .430/.341/.799.