EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Count Nets coach Lawrence Frank

among the many fans of New Orleans point guard Chris Paul. Just

don't ask him to trade in his own, older model just yet.

Playing for the first time against the heralded rookie, Jason

Kidd missed a triple-double by one rebound Monday night as New

Jersey (25-21) beat the Hornets 99-91 to extend its home winning

streak to 11 games.

Kidd finished with 14 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Paul

handed out 13 assists but shot 2-for-12 and was held to 6 points,

11 below his average.

"He's a tough-minded guy who is as good with the ball as

anybody in the league," Frank said. "He has some things that just

aren't taught, and he's going to be a great player in this

league."

Kidd, meanwhile, directed a second-half surge that put the

visitors away and pulled the Nets within two games of tying the

franchise record for consecutive home wins. The Nets trailed by 12

at halftime, but by the middle of the fourth quarter the only

suspense was whether Kidd would earn his 71st career triple-double,

tops among active players by a huge margin.

In the locker room after the game, the soon-to-be 33-year-old

looked every bit his age as he sat soaking both feet and with an

ice pack strapped to one knee. In the next locker, Richard

Jefferson, who led the Nets with 26 points, assessed the point

guard matchup.

"(Paul) went up against one of the greatest point guards of all

time tonight," he said, "and I think it showed in some areas."

Speedy Claxton led New Orleans (24-23) with 23 points off the

bench -- though he was scoreless in the fourth quarter -- on a night

when the Hornets' starters combined for just 43.

The Nets fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half

after shooting 5-for-20 in the second quarter. The 6-foot Paul and

the 5-foot-11 Claxton double-teamed and pestered 6-foot-7 Vince

Carter (21 points) and the rest of the Nets, who had trouble

hitting wide-open shots. On the offensive end, both New Orleans

guards seemed to penetrate the lane effortlessly.

"You have to give New Orleans credit, they doubled Vince and he

made the right play to kick it out," said Frank. "We just

couldn't get the job done. But in the second half we did a good job

of adjusting. When the outside shot isn't going, you have to resort

to getting into the paint."

Trailing 71-68 to start the final period, the Nets went to

Jefferson, Kidd and Carter and took control of the game as New

Orleans' lack of a big scorer began to show. Jefferson had four

points and Kidd and Carter both hit 3-pointers in a 21-4 spurt, and

center Nenad Krstic, back after missing Saturday's win over Miami

with the flu, contributed eight points in the quarter before

fouling out with 4:07 left.

"We showed why road games have been tough for us throughout

this year," said Paul. "That's where we've got to get better.

It's a learning experience."

^Notes:@ Paul went down hard and appeared to hit his tailbone with

4:07 left in the game, but he remained in the game ... Hornets

coach Byron Scott, who was fired by the Nets midway through the

2003-2004 season, fell to 0-3 against his former team ... In

response to a comment in a recent newspaper article by Scott that

he was the victim of a "mutiny" by Nets players two seasons ago,

Kidd said after the game, "The numbers speak for themselves. If

there was a mutiny, maybe it was the right time for a change." The

Nets were 22-20 when Scott was let go ... The Hornets extended the

deadline to Tuesday at noon to finalize the trade to bring center

Steven Hunter from the 76ers. Hunter missed 39 games in 2002 with a

torn right anterior cruciate ligament.