Brooklyn Nets control Houston Rockets in smooth 110-98 win

The 14.5 point underdogs did not just go into Houston and win, but the game wasn’t close after halftime.

The Brooklyn Nets played well on Saturday night, and there is no taking that away from them.

Against one of the league’s best, most physical teams in the Houston Rockets, Jordi Fernández’s team only turned it over 12 times, survived the rebounding battle, and blocked nine shots. The Rockets had a ton of second-chance points, but partly because they missed all of their first chances.

The Nets even shot the ball pretty well, if not spectacularly; using so much collective energy on the glass dimmed their transition attack a bit, and they otherwise would have posted a much higher score.

Still, on the few opportunities the Nets did have to run the floor, it looked pretty…

It was a great win — divesting their on-court performance from the overwhelming, long-term incentive to lose, of course — and Brooklyn’s second in a row.

All that said, it would not have been possible without Houston letting down in a painfully obvious let-down spot. The young, up-and-coming team has played a series of high-profile, nationally televised games in January, including wins over the Boston Celtics and twice over the Cleveland Cavaliers, even a dramatic 1-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies without All-Star Alperen Şengün.

The Rockets would be without Şengün again on Saturday against the Nets, but they didn’t need the Nets to make their statement: They’ve arrived. The NBA is talking about them, and every individual profile on the team has been raised, from an Ime Udoka redemption arc to the widespread realization of Amen Thompson’s freak-ness.

So naturally, they took their foot off the gas against the well-rested, 15-33 Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. And Udoka was displeased, no disgusted, by it…

During his halftime interview with YES Network’s Meghan Triplett, Ziaire Williams remarked “We just want it more,” and it’d be hard to argue with him.

For all of Brooklyn’s on-court faults, they have not played softly this season, they have not gone quietly in losses. Between injuries and trades, they have lost more NBA-quality offensive talent than a team has any right to, but even as they struggle to reach 100 points, their opponents have struggled to reach 105.

With two off days in their back-pocket, even with a dismal record, they are not the team to take lightly. Unfortunately for the Rockets (and perhaps draft-obsessed Nets fans), the home team (messed) around and found that out for themselves on Saturday. (It didn’t help that Houston shot under 31% from three on top of that.)

Williams got the start, and he brought a great deal of Brooklyn’s energy out of the gates. He’d finish with 21/8/1, but also a career-high three blocks, and a few dunks thanks to his commitment to being in the right spots at the right times…

Said the 23-year-old: “Day one of training camp, Jordi told me my first role is to be the best defender on the court and provide energy. So I feel like that’s a controllable that I can control. You know I can’t control every make, but I can control my effort, I can control being the best defender and wanting it more than the opponent.”

Brooklyn only led 26-23 after the first quarter before breaking it open in the second, but another strong performer early was Day’Ron Sharpe.

Nic Claxton would end up with 17/5/2 and a block, but did his very first stint of play wasn’t anything to write home about. But then Sharpe entered the game and gave Houston’s backup big Jock Landale the business; he hit the glass as he usually does, set some important screens for D’Angelo Russell and Keon Johnson, and played fantastic defense in more aggressive coverages Here he is locking up Thompson before scoring two of his 13 points…

Said Fernández: “I thought he was very good, you know, very aggressive in his pick-and-roll defense, using his hands to get deflections. And obviously, you want to see the ball go in; he was 6-for-8 … that’s huge.”

The rest of the Nets soon followed suit. His 2/4/5 doesn’t draw attention, but Ben Simmons played quite well in the middle portion of the game, when Brooklyn was at its best. Russell scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, second on the team behind Williams’ 21 points, but it was a balanced attack, with six double-digit scorers.

After a 15-point halftime deficit, Houston didn’t make any inroads in the third quarter, and an unthreatening run in the fourth quarter fell far short. They tried to turn it up once Brooklyn’s lead ballooned, but as every young team learns eventually, winning a few games doesn’t mean you can turn the switch on at will.

“[Houston] kept fighting until the end, and even when the game was almost over, they kept attacking … and our guys were just focused. They were organized, inbounding the ball and we didn’t turn it over, So again, the focus was there, the playing hard was there, and that’s how you win games in this league. So, credit to the guys and proud of them.” — Jordi Fernández

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 110, Houston Rockets 98

Chris and the Capper return to YES as a duo

Over the two decades in the radio booth — and various arena perches — for WFAN, Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw have often filled in on YES. But they haven’t teamed up on TV for 17 years … till Saturday night,

Good game for good guys.

Milestone Watch

• As previously mentioned, Ziaire Williams’ three blocks mark a new career-high.
• Here’s a statistical oddity: Brooklyn has held their last two opponents under 100 points. The last time that happened was nearly two years ago against the same exact teams (Charlotte on 3/5/23, Houston on 3/7/23).

Injury Report

Nothing new to report on the injury front, but we saw Maxwell Lewis on the Nets bench, dressed in street clothes…

It is the first time he’s traveled with the team — or at least been present on Brooklyn’s bench — since he fractured his left tibia in a January 1 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Next Up

Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images

‘Tis a home-and-home after all, so Houston will have an immediate opportunity to get revenge on Brooklyn, this time at the Barclays Center. Tip-off is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. It’s the first of six home games sandwiched around the NBA All-Star Break. The Nets won’t play on the road again in three weeks and that first road game will be in Philadelphia.

• Boxscore: Brooklyn Nets 110, Houston Rockets 98 – NBA
• Game Highlights: Brooklyn Nets 110, Houston Rockets 98 (Video) – NBA
• Ziaire Williams on the Nets’ big win vs. the Rockets (Video) – Meghen Triplett – YES Network
• Jordi Fernández discusses the Nets’ impressive win over Houston (Video) – YES Network
• D’Angelo Russell discusses the Nets’ win over the Rockets (Video) – YES Network
• Nets win consecutive games for 1st time since November with 110-98 victory over Rockets – Kristie Reiken – AP
• Nets build 22-point lead in road upset of Rockets – Reuters
• Nets lose pace in draft lottery race with Cam Johnson, Ben Simmons’ futures uncertain – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
• Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg’s Duke teammate, could be NBA draft option for Nets – Brian Lewis – New York Post