Nets drop 6th straight

Lionel Hollins said before Monday’s game against the Rockets that the Nets have developed an offensive identity this season.

“We don’t make shots,” the Nets coach said with a smile. “That is an identity. If you don’t make shots, that’s a part of who you are.”

That’s still a part of the Nets, who again struggled from 3point range in a 11399 loss to extend their losing streak to a seasonlong six games since reaching the .500 mark with a win in Orlando on Jan. 2.

During the skid, the Nets have gone 30for131 (22.9 percent) from 3point range, including 5for21 against the Rockets — who happened to go 16for40 from 3point range.

“That was the difference in the game,” Hollins said. “I tried a lot of different combinations, trying to get some spark … [but] the only spark we had was when we went back to the guys that started, and it was too little, too late.”

Despite coming into the season with a team expected to excel offensively and that would need Hollins, a defensive coach, to improve it defensively, the Nets have been the exact opposite this season.

“I think the ball’s moving great,” said Joe Johnson, who went 3for8 from 3point range while the rest of his teammates were just 2for13. “We’re getting great looks. We just haven’t been making a lot of shots.

“We just have to be a little more dominant in the paint … as guards, getting in the paint, finishing, making plays for the bigs, and that’s kind of where it needs to start.”

At the other end, James Harden became the latest athletic guard to have a field day against the Nets, slicing through their defense at will as he finished with 30 points on 9for13 shooting, sending the Nets home licking their wounds as Hollins’ former team, the Grizzlies, come to Brooklyn Wednesday.

“It’s very high,” said Mason Plumlee of the team’s frustration level. “It’s tough. You get to .500, and we haven’t been anything since.”