NEW YORK _ The way Houston played on Sunday night at Barclays Center is the model for the way first-year coach Kenny Atkinson would like the Nets to play someday. The problem is that the Nets' cupboard doesn't contain talent remotely comparable to the likes of James Harden, Eric Gordon and the rest of a terrific Rockets team that blew the Nets off their own court, 137-112.
It was the 10th straight loss for the Nets (8-32) and marked the most points they have allowed this season. Given the draft-pick problems the Nets face the next two years, it's going to be a long time before they can begin to stockpile talent.
Houston coach Mike D'Antoni, who previously had Atkinson as an assistant with the Knicks, hopes he gets time to prove himself. "He's a very good coach and hopefully he gets a chance," D'Antoni said. "A lot of coaches are in a position where they just don't have a chance _ not yet. If you hang in there, he's a good coach, and he'll get over the hump."
The Nets managed to stay within striking distance for a half but just didn't have the horses to keep up. Trevor Booker led them with 18 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 14. But the Rockets (32-11) shot 51.1 percent from the field, including a ridiculous 21-for-44 performance from 3-point range, and had three 20-point scorers: Gordon (24), Trevor Ariza (23) and Harden (22 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds for his 12th triple-double this season).
Before the game, D'Antoni was asked about how his approach to high-octane offense, which was derided by some when he coached the Knicks for 3 1/2 seasons, has become the flavor of the moment in the NBA. Cutting off the question to make a joke at his own expense, D'Antoni said, "The way that got me fired?
"It's always nice to know you're not completely crazy when you're doing things. It's just the way I thought we should play and the way I thought the game should look. You do have to have the players and the talent and the management, and everybody's got to go on line _ the star players, the coaches, the management and the owner."
Atkinson certainly is a disciple of the up-tempo, spread offense that relies on three-pointers and layups. "A lot of people said that offense changed the way the game is played," Atkinson said of his former boss. "It was a shock to all of us, him coming into the league with that Phoenix team and playing the way he did and not posting up and keeping the floor spread. I compare it to the NFL when they went to spread offenses.
"I think Mike was ahead of the game even before analytics. That's the most impressive thing. He figured it out before the rest of us figured it out. He figured out the value of the 3-point shot. Everybody thinks Mike is threes, threes, threes. He likes layups just as much and free throws."
With the Nets resting center Brook Lopez for the fourth time this season, they played small and got up and down the floor with Houston during a frantic first half that ended with the Rockets leading 74-66. It was the most points given up in a half by the Nets this season, and the Rockets shot 58.1 percent. The Rockets made 10 first-half threes to nine for the Nets.
It was an entertaining display, but the fun went out of it for the Nets when they fell into what Bojan Bogdanovic previously described as one of their offensive "black holes" early in the third quarter. After Justin Hamilton, who started in place of Lopez, hit a hook shot to make it a six-point game, the Rockets went on a 13-0 run to take an 87-68 lead before Bogdanovic buried a three-pointer to stem the tide momentarily.
But from there, the Nets never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
