Nets at Rockets final score: Houston runs past Brooklyn, 114-95
By Brad Rowland
The 2013-2014 season has been a struggle for the Brooklyn Nets, and Friday night wasn’t any different. Brooklyn fell at the hands of the Houston Rockets by a 114-95 margin, and the way in which they lost was extremely troubling.
Houston’s offense soared from the opening tip, and the 114 points (impressive as they were) represented just the tip of the iceberg. The Rockets absolutely shot the lights out in this one, posted a 52.7% clip from the field and a staggering 59.4% (19 for 32) mark from beyond the 3-point arc. For good measure, the Rockets assisted on 31 of their 39 baskets against the defense-less resistance of the Nets, and they were even able to get to the free throw line for an impressive 17-of-20 showing.
Perhaps the most damning of statistics was the fact that Houston absolutely called the dogs off in this one. No member of the Rockets played more than 28 minutes, and only a 33-22 “win” by the Nets in the 4th quarter kept this from being an absolute disaster on the scoreboard.
If you’re looking for a “bright” spot for the Nets, it has to be the play of the bench. As a group, they combined for 72 of the 95 points, and that is usually an outstanding sign for the success of a team. However, the starters were used so sparingly (and were so ineffective) that the bench was helpless to overcome what was a large deficit from the early going.
As a result, the Nets now sit at 4-12 on the young season, while Houston is flying high at 12-5. It is easy to overreact to a one night sample size in the NBA, but it would be difficult for two NBA teams to look farther apart while occupying the same floor.