Not having Kevin Durant (rest) and LaMarcus Aldridge (rest) limited the Nets as they fell to Houston Rockets on Wednesday. The Rockets dismantled them for the entire contest, ending the game shooting 49% from the field and 34% from three.
The Nets allowed an atrocious 67 points in the first half, showing no effort or passion on the defensive end. As Houston built a lead that was as big as 20, Brooklyn was left crawling back for the entire game, but picked up the slack defensively in the second half to make up for it. When they got it the deficit four in the final quarter, it was too late because they had already dug themselves too big of a hole.
What stood out the most for Houston’s play was the way their starters outmatched and outplayed Brooklyn’s starters. Each starter cracked double-digits in scoring. With birthday boy Josh Christopher (18 PTS) coming off the bench to go a perfect 7-of-7 from the field too, the Nets were just unable to keep up.
On the defensive end, the Rockets compiled nine blocks, and in particular, Christian Wood (12 PTS, 15 REBS) had three of them. Although the Brooklyn scored 50 points in the paint by the final buzzer, Houston’s activity in the paint caused Brooklyn to spam the three ball. As a result, they only went 24% from the perimeter.
As for James Harden (25 PTS, 11 REBS) and Patty Mills (12 PTS), they could not capitalize on the looks they were getting. The two combined to shoot 7-of-27 from the field and with them knowing that they are literally the most lethal scorers on the team with who played tonight, it was a recipe for disaster.
At least Nets bench stepped up, scoring 50 points to try and match the Rockets’ offensive firepower. Even so, it wasn’t enough. The starters just didn’t step up to allow a winning effort to be possible for the team.
Nets head coach Steve Nash and his squad will look to bounce back on Friday when they take on the Atlanta Hawks at the State Farm Arena.