NBA

CARTER HITS 15,000-POINT MARK

OK, there were some positives for the Nets last night. Trust us, you really had to search for the high marks in a 106-69 defeat to the Raptors.

It wasn’t the worst loss ever suffered by a Raptor opponent. There was a 39-point game in 2002. Plus, Vince Carter reached 15,000 points, Sean Williams made his for-real debut, Richard Jefferson was 9-for-9 at the line to make him 21-for-21 in two games, and no specialist medical teams were needed.

Carter became the third-fastest active player to hit 15,000 when he recorded his sixth point of the night – in his 623d game – with a 16-footer at 1:57 of the first quarter. The two active guys ahead of him are Shaquille O’Neal (547 games) and Allen Iverson (557). Carter is also the 20th-fastest player to reach that mark.

Williams, drafted 17th, played 21 minutes and scored four points, but also had four blocks. That equaled the most by a Net in any game. Last season, Mikki Moore and Jason Collins each had four.

“It’s nice to get out there on the court and learn from any situation,” Williams said.

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Nenad Krstic is excited about going to work on back-to-back days. For Krstic, tonight in Philadelphia where the Nets play the Sixers, represents his first back-to-back test following his 10-month absence from a torn anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee and subsequent surgery. He played 18 minutes last night, scoring nine points.

“I’m looking forward to see how I’m going to respond,” Krstic said. “I think I’m going to be all right. Practice for like three hours is harder than playing 20-25 minutes.”