DEEP TROUBLE
Nets flop in record-setting 3-point barrage vs. Rockets
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson praised mentor Mike D’Antoni for changing the NBA, for being ahead of the rest of the league. Then D’Antoni’s Rockets lured the Nets into their game, and showed them just how far ahead they really are.
D’Antoni’s Rockets have rolled through the season with the same 3-point-happy attack he’d introduced in Phoenix and taught Atkinson when they were together with the Knicks. By the time Houston’s record long-ball barrage was over Sunday, they’d handed the Nets a 137-112 beating in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center.
“They dominated us, and there’s just no way around it,’’ Atkinson said.
That perfectly sums up the Nets’ 10th straight loss, played without Brook Lopez, which sent them to an NBA-worst 8-32.
The teams played at a dizzying pace, and tied an NBA record with 88 3-point attempts. The Nets took half of those to break their own team record. The difference was, Houston can actually shoot. The Rockets lead the league in 3s taken and are on pace to shatter the NBA record.
The Rockets got a triple-double from James Harden, who had 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Houston hit 21-of-44 from deep, put six players in double-figures and scored at least 30 points in every single quarter to improve to 32-11.
“We just could never stop them. I don’t think we stopped them the whole night. We tried a lot of different things, tried changing coverages and couldn’t find a solution,’’ said Atkinson, whose team was 15of-44 from deep, just 6-of-21 in the second half. “There was really no point in the game where I felt like we had them under control.”
The Nets nearly kept pace with Houston in the first half but fell off in the second. Or, more to the point, imploded in the third quarter yet again.
After Justin Hamilton — starting in place of Lopez — hit a turnaround hook shot to make it 74-68, the Nets allowed a 13-0 run. They missed six straight shots and committed a pair of turnovers, unable to break Houston’s momentum.
“They wanted to get into an offensive match with us to see if you can try and outshoot us, and they did exactly that,’’ said Joe Harris, just 2-of-8 from deep while Sean Kilpatrick was 1-of-7.
Ryan Anderson’s 3 pushed the deficit to 87-68, with the Nets going scoreless for 3:13 until Bojan Bogdanovic finally hit a 3.
“We took a couple of bad shots and that’s what they want. They want to play with a pace. They shot the ball well; and that’s the main reason why we lost the game,’’ said Bogdanovic. “In the second half they played great pickand-roll. It was tough for us to play at the pace they played.”
The deficit was still 14 going into the fourth, where it swelled to 137106 on a 3-pointer — what else? — by K.J. McDaniels with 1:33 to play. It was a clinic in Atkinson’s preferred playing style, but the personnel doesn’t permit it. The Nets are third-worst in the league in 3-point percentage, despite getting open looks from spacing and drives.
“It’s a big part of what we do. We’ve got to make more,’’ Atkinson said. “Obviously we can get better, be more efficient, make more of them. … It’s going to be part of our attack. We believe in it and need to get better at it to be a big part.”