Nets rally late to beat West-worst Rockets: ‘We were pretty lucky to get a win tonight.’
If this is what an expedited jelling process looks like, the Nets need a new overnight delivery service.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said ahead of tip-off against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday that the team has done everything — from spending more time together in the locker room to taking advantage of additional practice days — to fast track chemistry for a starting lineup that was assembled at the trade deadline.
It’s clear after a lifeless performance against the conference-worst Rockets just how much ground the Nets have to make up if they’re going to secure the sixth and final guaranteed playoff seed — the same seed the No. 7 Miami Heat are eyeing with their inspired play in recent weeks.
The Nets rallied late to secure a 123-114 victory over the Rockets at Barclays Center on Wednesday, ending a skid in which Brooklyn had lost six of its last seven games. The Rockets, however, who have yet to crack 20 wins on the season and own the worst record in the Western Conference, stayed within striking distance the entire night and took a one-point lead into the half.
Cam Johnson, who led the Nets with 31 points, said the team can’t afford to overlook opponents who have a lesser record.
”Not this time of year. Not this time of year. Six games left now in the regular season. They’re all super important for us. We’ve gotta come in,” he said postgame. “There’s no excuse for how we played the first 40 minutes of the game really. But it’s on us to be better, and we were able to clean it up and come out of this one with the win. Coach JV said in the locker room: I’d rather learn lessons from wins than losses.”
Houston led by as many as nine in the fourth quarter and never trailed by more than seven until they succumbed to Brooklyn’s late-game run. The Rockets led, 108-103, at the 3:40 mark of the final period before the Nets responded with a 16-4 run that extended into the final seconds of regulation.
The Nets outscored the Rockets, 37-27, to close the game in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t know [we were going to come back]. I was hoping. We waited a long time to really dive into how we wanted to play,” Vaughn said postgame. “You would love to be able to do those last three minutes and play that way at the beginning of the game. We were fortunate we were only down one at the half, but I continue to learn about this group. I don’t think there was a panic from this group.
“There was a ‘we’ve gotta get this win. Let’s lock in right now.’ So that piece came from the group which was good to see.”
Johnson shot 5-of-9 from downtown, and Mikal Bridges added 27 with four threes of his own. Spencer Dinwiddie recorded another double-double with 20 points and 11 assists, and Nic Claxton finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Dinwiddie said the Nets had faith they could rally late against the Rockets.
“I think we have confidence that we can respond to anything,” he said. “I think we were kind of disappointed in the 50-50 balls and rebounding and stuff like that, so it was more so about our group having an attention to detail, having that focus, versus not thinking that we could respond.”
The Nets, however, will have to tighten up. The Rockets are hardly playoff competition.
Houston dropped its previous three games by a combined 76 points before walking into Barclays Center on Wednesday. The Rockets came to Brooklyn riding a six-game losing streak which extended to seven against the Nets.
“We were pretty lucky to get a win tonight,” Vaughn added. “And we’re not gonna give it back.”
The same can’t be said for the remaining six teams on the Nets’ schedule, or the teams they could see in the play-in tournament if they cede the sixth seed to Miami.
Of the six remaining teams on the docket, only the Detroit Pistons have fared worse than the Rockets in recent weeks, losing 20 of their last 22 games.
“Not having a full training camp, I think you get a lot of that established in your philosophy during training camp, and right now, I’m still figuring out what’s best for this group, whether that is defensively, whether that is how to improve this group, whether that is continuing to learn how a particular player can take input that I give him,” Vaughn continued. “So you still have those things where relationships over time, they just get built, and our time is being expedited right now.”
The Nets have now improved to a 41-35 record on the season. They continue to hold sole ownership of the Eastern Conference’s No. 6 seed and are 2.5 games behind the fifth-seeded Knicks.
The Knicks beat the seventh-seeded Heat, 101-92, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Miami (40-37) now trails Brooklyn by 1.5 games in the standings.
The Heat only have five games remaining on their schedule to the Nets’ six. The Nets entered Wednesday with the easiest remaining schedule among all 30 NBA teams. Miami has the seventh-easiest.
BRIDGES OK
Bridges said he hit his wrist on a missed dunk attempt in the second quarter, but that it’s not an injury to be worried about. Bridges left the game toward the end of the period but said that is normal.
“It was just bothering me a little bit, but I always come out [of the game] early, so just shaking it off,” he said.
Asked if it’s anything to worry about going forward, he said, “No, not at all.”
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