HOUSTON — The Nets faced the last-place Rockets on Tuesday night, and they did exactly what a team heading for the playoffs is supposed to do to a cellar dweller.
Mikal Bridges scored a game-high 30 points and the Nets throttled Houston 118-96 before a crowd of 14,833 at Toyota Center.
The score was knotted at 54-all in the waning seconds of the second quarter when the Nets reeled off a 21-3 run that spanned halftime. That surge broke the tie — and broke the Rockets.
The Nets (37-28) won for the third straight game, and they continued to show signs of jelling after reshaping their roster with the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades.
The Nets won three straight by double-digits for the first time this season. And Bridges —who had his right wrist wrapped in ice after the game — became the first player in NBA history to average 25 points on 50/40/90 shooting splits through his first 10 games with a new team, according to YES Network.
“We made an adjustment as far as just shrinking the floor more, putting more bodies in front of the basketball. So that was huge on our defensive end of the floor, and then that allows us to get out and run a little bit,” said Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. “So (good) job of the entire group of just really shrinking the floor and playing together on the defensive end.”
Mikal Bridgets, who scored a game-high 30 points, shoots over Kevin Porter Jr. during the Nets’ 118-96 win over the Rockets.APBridges, who scored 18 points in the second half, also had five assists on the night.
The prize of the trade of Durant to the Suns, Bridges has scored 30 or more points in three straight games and in five of his last eight after he cracked that barrier just twice with Phoenix.
Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie added 23 points and helped hold Houston’s Kevin Porter Jr. to just seven.
Center Nic Claxton had a stellar all-around performance with 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
He also put his switchable defense on display (guarding Jalen Green and Kenyon Martin Jr. at times), brought the ball up court, and did everything the Nets needed.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 23 points, celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer during the Nets’ win.APRoyce O’Neale had 11 points and a season-high 11 rebounds off the bench for the Nets.
Green had 25 points to lead the Rockets (15-50).
The Nets stumbled out of the starting blocks, as is their wont.
They fell behind 12-2 on an Alperen Sengun layup with 8:15 to go in the first quarter. The early deficit swelled to 23-12 with 4:51 left in the opening frame, and the Nets still trailed 35-27 early in the second quarter, before they flipped the game, reeling off 16 unanswered points.
They never trailed again.
New Net Nerlens Noel reaches to grab a rebound during Brooklyn’s victory. USA TODAY SportsTightening the screws defensively, the Nets gave Houston problems during that run.
They held the Rockets to 0-for-4 shooting with a trio of turnovers.
As a result, they were able to get out and run, going 6-for-8 themselves, including 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc.
By the time Joe Harris drilled a 3-pointer off a Cam Johnson feed with 8:07 remaining in the second quarter, the Nets had a 43-35 lead.
The Rockets did have a little fight left in them.
A Jabari Smith Jr. putback pulled them even with 48.2 seconds left in the half, but the Nets never let them get over the hump. The Rockets mismanaged those final seconds, losing their poise.
After Dinwiddie got loose for a driving go-ahead layup, Johnson stole a bad pass by Sengun and found Bridges, who hit a 3-pointer that just beat the buzzer.
Smith’s protestations earned him a technical foul that got the Nets off on the right foot after the break.
The Nets scored the first six points coming out of the locker room, Dinwiddie making it 65-54 barely a minute into the second half.
Claxton capped the spurt with a highlight play.
He got down low to pick off a ball for a steal, then dribbled nearly coast-to-coast and showed great body control to get around a smaller defender for a 6-foot shot that gave the Nets a 75-57 lead with 6:49 left in the third.
They padded their cushion to 22 points in the fourth.
