BET HOU MISS ME!
Harden has triple-double to lead Nets over Rockets in return to Houston
NETS 132 ROCKETS 114
When the Nets blew an eightpoint lead in the last two minutes of their Monday matchup against the Spurs, they regrouped in overtime and beat the Spurs by 11.
The same resilience was on display in Brooklyn’s 132-114 win over the Rockets in James Harden’s first game in Houston since his trade to the Nets.
“When it’s time to lock in and time to focus, we do that. Obviously, being up so many points, it’s natural to get comfortable and relax a little bit, and then some teams like San Antonio go on runs and play good defense and make shots,” said Harden, who recorded his eighth triple double since joining the Nets.
The Nets built a 23-point lead in the third quarter, but the Rockets — with only eight healthy players — went on a run and cut Brooklyn’s lead down to 10. Nets head coach Steve Nash called a timeout and drew up a play, and his team executed on that play, got a stop on the other end, then extended the lead back out to 18.
“On one hand, you’re disappointed that we allowed them to get back to 10 a couple times. On the other hand, they did a great job of extending the lead immediately,” Nash said postgame, one day after being named the NBA’s Coach of the Month of February. “I’m proud of our group’s growth over the first half.”
The Rockets went on another run in the fourth quarter cutting that 18-point lead back down to 10, but again, the Nets responded and blew Houston out of the water, finishing with an 18-point victory that punctuated a near-perfect stretch entering the March 5-10 NBA All-Star break in which Brooklyn has won 10 of its last 11 games.
Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris, who will not compete in this year’s All-Star 3-Point Contest, said the resilience in the face of opposing team runs shows the maturity of the group and points to the team’s leadership as a reason for its success.
“We realize that teams are going to make runs and [score] points over the course of the game and, in particular, late in games,” Harris. “But we just kind of stayed resilient honestly, and a lot of that falls on the guys that are at the top: You’ve got Steve, James, Kai [Kyrie Irving], DJ [DeAndre Jordan], Jeff Green. Everybody’s so even-keeled that when teams do make those runs, they relay the information about the team, talking about withstanding it, staying with it, and we’ve been able to hold off some of the momentum and push through from the Spurs the other night and then the Rockets tonight.”
Harden played 41 minutes in his return to Houston and was showered with a mixture of boos and cheers. He reminded Rockets fans exactly what they lost in the trade, putting up 29 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds and three steals (along with eight turnovers Nash said weren’t all Harden’s fault), firmly positioning himself in the league’s MVP race once again.
Every member of the Nets’ starting five scored in double figures: 19 for Joe Harris, 17 for Bruce Brown, and 10 points on a flurry of alley-oop finishes from veteran center DeAndre Jordan. Irving struggled early but hit his stride late, finishing with 24 points and six assists on 9-of-21 shooting from the field.
The Nets enter the All-Star break winners of 10 of their last 11 games, thanks largely to Harden, who has put the team on his back in the games Durant has missed. He’s been the biggest reason Brooklyn has been able to frustrate teams that think they’re closing a lead.
The Nets always have a chance to extend their advantage because they have the offensive firepower to protect it and have turned a corner with a defense that has proven able to get stops.