EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Jason Kidd returned to the New Jersey Nets' lineup Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets after missing four games with a bone bruise in his left knee.

The Nets went 2-2 with the All-Star point guard sidelined. His status was undecided until the pregame warmup.

``He came here early,'' Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. ``He was the first one here. He got treatment. He's going to go out onto the court and he's going to shoot. We'll see how he reacts to that.''

Kidd leads the NBA in assists, averaging 9.4 per game,