D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points, Ziaire Williams flirted with a double-double and the visiting Brooklyn Nets claimed a surprising 110-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
After snapping a seven-game losing streak with a road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, the Nets recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since late November. They did so by shooting 49.4 percent from the floor, posting a 60-50 advantage in paint points while limiting Houston to 40 percent shooting from the floor.
Russell provided a steady hand as six Nets scored in double figures. Williams paired 21 points with eight rebounds while Day’Ron Sharpe tallied 13 points off the bench. Jalen Wilson and Keon Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds each to round out the balanced attack.
Jalen Green scored a game-high 29 points for the Rockets, who played a second consecutive game without All-Star center Alperen Sengun (calf). Steven Adams posted 11 points and seven boards filling in for Sengun but the forward tandem of Amen Thompson and Dillon Brooks, who combined for 69 points in a win at Boston last week, totaled 24 points on 11-for-30 shooting.
The Rockets lost Fred VanVleet to an ankle injury with 4:19 remaining in the first half. Houston dropped consecutive games for the first time since falling to Minnesota and Miami at home in late December.
Brooklyn started 3 of 4 from behind the arc and carried that momentum to a 26-23 lead by the close of the first period after Sharpe converted a second-chance basket. The Nets established a double-digit lead in the second quarter when Houston started that period 0 for 7 from the floor.
Williams’ alley-oop dunk in transition lifted Brooklyn to a 45-35 lead with 2:35 remaining in the first half. The Rockets followed with another shooting drought, missing their final five shots of the half en route to a 5-for-22 shooting display in the second period that enabled the Nets to seize a 53-38 halftime lead.
Wilson completed a three-point play with 7:32 left in the third to extend the margin to 18, and when Williams converted a second-chance opportunity with 3:36 left, Brooklyn led 76-57.
The Nets led by as many as 22.
