By FRED KERBER

Vince Carter missed his first game of the season Sunday and the Nets had no chance. And it wasn’t just 20-plus points the Nets had to make up in his absence.

When Carter first came from Toronto, virtually every teammate at one time or another remarked that he was a far better passer than perceived. We found an assessment that the venerable Cliff Robinson gave of VC.

“He’s a much more unselfish player than people give him credit for. He’s so talented, you expect him to take a lot of shots but his ability to get other guys good shots and to make good passes is probably the most surprising thing about him,” Robinson judged.

Suffice to say there were no such surprises in Orlando as Carter sat with a strained right elbow. He said he will play tomorrow against the Spurs, the Nets’ last game before All-Star break but if there is any soreness or pain, it would probably make sense to give Carter another off day. He’s only had 12 since he arrived in December, 2004. The Spurs have beaten the Nets 12 straight times so with him, it would be hard. Without him – what’s just before impossible?

“It’s tough without him,” said Jarvis Hayes what started for Carter. “He is involved in so much that we try to do. Everything we do.”

Carter is seen so frequently as a scorer, a dunker that a game such as Sunday highlights his true worth.

“People play without their guys all the time but Vince changes everyone’s role. Him and Devin are our best creators. Plus Vince usually puts two on the ball. Now you got guys who are trying to start plays when they normally finish in terms of making shots,” said Lawrence Frank.

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Of the 12 games Carter has missed, two were when he first arrived with a bad Achilles. Last season, he missed five games with a right ankle sprain in November, another with a sore ankle in April – Carter refused surgery in season and played through to the end last year, something else he usually doesn’t get credit for doing. In 2005-06, he missed two games with a back strain and a third due to a coach’s decision in the season’s final game before the playoffs.

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Carter’s name surfaces frequently as the trade deadline approaches – 10 days from today, the 19th. With injuries playing such a key role in the lower levels of the East playoff picture – Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut of Milwaukee, Elton Brand in Philadelphia – the Nets chances of a berth are greatly enhanced. They are eighth as of today.

Carter would help any team so there is interest. But do the Nets continually look down the road and past the immediate future? If they land seven or eight or even six by some miracle — they’re not going anywhere. Still, the playoffs could be important for the overall growth of young ‘uns Lopez, Anderson, Yi. Without Carter, the playoffs are a distant possibility.

The feeling here is he lasts the season and then we can start the speculating all over in the off-season – just as the feeling is the Nets don’t get Amare Stoudemire, although a starting unit with Carter, Harris, Stoudemire and Brook Lopez could plug in Pee Wee Herman at small forward and still be formidable.

But the concerns about Stoudemire are valid to raise flags over the on-surface no-brainer deal. His knee. His attitude. His contract. A deal would have to be in place before anything is even considered on the trade front. Otherwise, he walks in 2010 – when groundbreaking in Brooklyn will be presented as only five years or so away.

But the Nets will talk and do all the things necessary. Maybe something breaks. Stromile Swift and his amazing expiring contract is appealing but the Nets would almost certainly have to take something back which they really don’t want to do.

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With Carter sitting Sunday, no Net has started every game. And only Brook Lopez has played in every game.

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Throw out the Magic game which was a bit of an abomination and the Nets defense has been the highlight of their play lately. Orlando ended a 4-game Nets win streak – and in that run no opponent scored 90.

Was it more than just coincidence that Trenton Hassell started three of the games and in the other, the first game of the streak, was in the lineup that started the second half?

“We played better defensively, played real good solid defense,” team president Rod Thorn said of the four games. “And Trenton helped our defense. He is a tough defender and has a savvy about how to play the game.”

Hassell, who has been praised up and down by Lawrence Frank for his no-nonsense, team-first approach, refused any credit for his part in the streak. He is a low key guy.

“I really don’t have enough adjectives to say about him,” Frank offered. “Trenton knows who he is and what he does. And the other guys know what he is.”

Well, almost. Hassell was joking the other day that probably only the veterans on the team are aware he was a starter on the Minnesota team that went to the Western Finals in 2004. “The young guys probably don’t know,” he said.

Okay, let’s see. Ryan Anderson, what did you know about Trenton Hassell before this season?

“I didn’t know what kind of player he was,” Anderson said. “He’s athletic, he can shoot. He can rebound. He’s strong.”

Did you know he started for a Conference finalist?

“No, no I didn’t. But then I wasn’t really familiar with the NBA in the ’80’s.”

The 80’s?????

“Well, you know what I mean,” Anderson said.

Hassell no doubt could use his AARP card to gain admittance to most arenas.

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Frank enjoyed the defensive run – but didn’t allow himself to be deluded. It was after all, just four games.

“It’s got to be a much bigger sample. I don’t go overboard about the numbers because there are different things that occur,” Frank said of the four-game defense highlight film. “Opponents, injuries, time of schedule, where you’re playing. So I think you’ve got to look at it more from a 10, 15, 20 game basis to see if those numbers are legitimate or not.”

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Nets and Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center in the Bronx have teamed up for the first in-game telethon tomorrow night. Fans can call in during the Nets-Spurs game and get discounted tickets to certain games in February and 25 percent of the proceeds go to the Heart Center’s foundation. Fans can call 1-800-7NJ-NETS or go on-line to njnets.com and use the code GIVE for discounted tickets.

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Useless fact of the day: The land where Arlington National Cemetery is situated originally belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of the first president. The land passed to Custis’ daughter, Mary, who married a promising Army officer named Robert E. Lee. The land was seized when the Civil War broke out and a Union general, Montgomery Meigs, who hated Lee for his service to the Confederacy, proposed the property around Lee’s former estate be used as a cemetery for Union troops.