NBA

Houston Rockets at Brooklyn Nets

· National Basketball Association
32-18, 17-10 Away
Final
97 - 99

17-33, 6-16 Home

Late 3s by Johnson and Russell give the Nets a 99-97 win over the Rockets

Nets steal win from Rockets with unbelievable closing sequence

Brooklyn trailed 97-93 when Tosan Evbuomwan inbounded the ball to Johnson, who made a 3 from the wing with 8.1 seconds left. Houston's Amen Thompson then threw an inbounds pass that skipped past Dillon Brooks, and Evbuomwan tipped it to Russell, who buried a 3 to put the Nets ahead with 3.4 seconds remaining.

Jalen Green missed a deep 3 at the buzzer for the Rockets as Brooklyn (17-33) ended its 11-game skid at Barclays Center.

Johnson scored 22 points, and Evbuomwan and Nic Claxton each scored 14. Russell had 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Alperen Sengun had 24 points and 20 rebounds while Reed Sheppard and Brooks each finished with 16 for the Rockets (32-18), who have lost four straight — two to Brooklyn — since a four-game winning streak that included two wins over Cleveland and one against Boston.

Takeaways Rockets: Thompson was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for January. Thompson, who on Tuesday was selected to the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, averaged 1.4 blocks and 2.2 steals over 12 games last month, the only player to average at least two steals and one block during that time.

Nets: Brooklyn swept the season series from the Rockets for the first time since 2022-23.

Key moment The Nets were down by nine points midway through the third quarter and responded with a 14-0 run in which Claxton and Tyrese Martin did all the scoring.

Key stat Brooklyn’s last victory at Barclays Center was on Dec. 4 against Indiana.

Up next Brooklyn continues its six-game homestand Wednesday against Washington. Houston visits Minnesota on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

BKN wins series 2-0

Matchup Prediction

Nets: 36.5%
Rockets: 63.5%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 97 - 99
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 97 - 99
4th 0.1 Rockets offensive team rebound 97 - 99
4th 0.1 Jalen Green misses 31-foot three point pullup jump shot 97 - 99
4th 3.1 Reed Sheppard enters the game for Jae'Sean Tate 97 - 99

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/bkn.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBKN
34-83 FG 38-82
41.0 Field Goal % 46.3
11-32 3PT 10-27
34.4 Three Point % 37.0
18-27 FT 13-17
66.7 Free Throw % 76.5
45 Rebounds 39
16 Offensive Rebounds 10
29 Defensive Rebounds 29
23 Assists 26
6 Steals 10
6 Blocks 9
16 Turnovers 13
2 Team Turnovers 1
18 Total Turnovers 14
1 Technical Fouls 1
1 Total Technical Fouls 1
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
25 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 15
5 Fast Break Points 21
40 Points in Paint 52
18 Fouls 25
8 Largest Lead 8

Game Information

Barclays Center

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Attendance: 16,564 · Capacity:

2024-25 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 43 25 .632 - W6
Memphis 43 25 .632 - W1
Dallas 33 36 .478 10.5 L3
San Antonio 28 38 .424 14 W1
New Orleans 18 50 .265 25 L2

2024-25 Atlantic Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Boston 49 19 .721 - W2
New York 42 24 .636 6 L1
Toronto 24 44 .353 25 L1
Philadelphia 23 44 .343 25.5 W1
Brooklyn 23 45 .338 26 W1
Full Standings

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