Missing three-fifths of their starting lineup, the Nets got eviscerated 120-96 by the Rockets before a sellout crowd of 18,003 at Barclays Center.
The Nets were missing eight players, including starters Michael Porter Jr., Egor Demin and Terance Mann.
They got scorched for 57.3 percent shooting, with their former star Kevin Durant having 22 points and 11 assists.
Brooklyn (10-21) sits fifth in the lottery odds, percentage points ahead of the Hornets.
The Nets allowed a 21-7 run and trailed by double digits for the final 28 minutes of the game. They couldn’t come close to handling Houston’s size, behind Alperen Sengun (20 points, plus-30).
Cam Thomas led Brooklyn with a team-high 21 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. But no other Net mustered more than 14 points, as they shot just 45 percent and 10-of-30 from 3-point range.
“It’s not about replacing (the missing trio), because they all do very special things about the next man mentality, and do it by committee,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez had said beforehand. “And I think our group has always done a great job with that.
“And there’s a great opportunity for guys that haven’t had the chance to be on the court and some others that have had different roles and we play against a very good team. We’re going to need for sure everybody to have a good performance and bring positive things to the game to be able to compete with this one.”
Ziaire Williams had 14 points in his first start since November, and Danny Wolf had nine points, five assists and four rebounds in his first-ever start.
“When things don’t go your way,” said Fernandez. “In that first half, we were fighting. We’re down 11 and we’re fighting. And then sometimes what it takes is a run from the other team. And we’re going to continue to fight and do the right things. I thought that we couldn’t find our energy.”
Houston improved to 21-10.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
