Nets vs. Rockets Takeaways: One Step Forward But Two Steps Back

After making improvements on both ends of the floor, the Houston Rockets reverted back to their old habits Tuesday night in a loss to the Nets.

HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets' two-game winning streak ended Tuesday night in a 118-96 loss to the Brooklyn Nets inside the Toyota Center. Here are three takeaways from the Rockets' 50th loss of the season.

Rockets' defense takes a major step back:

When the Rockets swept the San Antonio Spurs during their home-and-home series, coach Stephen Silas was proud of the defensive performance. It appeared Houston finally understood the defensive concepts of switching. But against the Nets, Houston's defense took a step back.

Brooklyn began the game shooting 1-for-8 from the field. And by the 8:15 mark of the first quarter, Houston held an early 12-2 lead. But the Nets began to chip away at their deficit due to their 3-point shooting.

"It puts so much pressure on your defense when they are spaced well," Silas said. "Once you adjust your stance and they get by you or get over the top of a pick-and-roll when you don't corral the ball, you cannot help.

"Once you are not rotating against a team that has so much shooting, you will give up a bunch of 3's — and we did."

The Nets outscored the Rockets 45-21 from behind the arc on 38 percent shooting. 

Against the Spurs, Houston gave up 11 triples during the first half of Saturday's win. But due to their improved defense, the Rockets limited the Spurs to 27.9 percent shooting from behind the arc over the next six quarters. 

Alperen Sengun could not sustain his play following a fast start:

The Rockets' play as a whole declined following a great start, but Alperen Sengun diminishing contributions did not help Houston. 

Sengun scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting by the end of the first quarter. But the second-year prospect scored six points while missing five out of his next seven shots for the remainder of the night.

Sengun said the Nets adjusted their defense to clog the paint, and their traps forced him to end the night with a team-high four turnovers. Brooklyn's Nic Claxton led the defensive charge to help slow down Houston's second-year prospect.

"Teams are adjusting to him," Silas said. "Early in the game, they were playing him straight. We were able to get him the ball in the post or pick-and-roll play. They were not honoring him very much. 

"But in the second half, they were much more attentive with his post-ups. They double-teamed him. They made it a lot harder for him. The Nets just adjusted to his impact on the game." 

Jabari Smith Jr. is slowly breaking out of his shooting slump:

Jabari Smith Jr.'s return from the All-Star break was rough. His production fell off when compared to his early season success. And in the four games following the break, Smith had averaged 8.5 points on 29.5 percent shooting, 0.63 percent from behind the arc.

Smith's production improved over the next two games. And against the Nets, Smith had his best performance post-All-Star break with 15 points (6-13 FG, 3-7 FT) and eight rebounds.

Best performance:

Silas said consistency is the next step in Jalen Green's development. Green did not replicate the efficiency he had during his 31-point performance against the Spurs Sunday night. But Green did follow up his play with a team-high 25 points.

In the previous three games following a 30-plus point performance, Green has averaged 13.3 points on 27.0 percent shooting from the field.

Worst performance:

Kevin Porter Jr.'s scoring made his performance against the Nets a dreadful night. He shot 2-for-11 for eight points and finished the night with a minus-25. Porter did contribute to the Rockets with his rebounding and assists. He added eight boards and seven assists in the loss.

Final Words: "We started out really good, but we began to backtrack again. We were not playing together. We were not moving the ball. We started playing a lot of one-on-one. It's the things we have been doing all season that has caused us to lose games." — Green

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You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24

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