RECAP – FINAL: #Rockets 96 – #Nets 105

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The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Houston Rockets by a score of 105-96 in Brooklyn.

Rundown:

The Nets came out strong once again looking for their 14th straight home victory and followed the lead of Shaun Livingston and Joe Johnson to a 54-51 halftime lead.  Johnson had 17 points to offset James Harden’s 15 points and Omer Asik’s 13 rebounds at half.  The second half was more of the same as Brooklyn took Houston’s best shots and responded with solid bench play and Joe Cool’s momentum killing dagger shots.  Johnson ended with 32 points and the Nets scored 50 points in the paint for the second straight game to end a 14 game losing streak to the Rockets.

Momentum Changers:

Joe Johnson drilled a 3-pointer off of great ball movement to give the Nets a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter up 83-79 and Brooklyn followed Johnson to the victory.

NUMBERS:

The Nets finish the regular season 18-12 vs. Western Conference teams which is the 2nd-best record among Eastern teams vs. the West this season (Miami).

 D-Will has extended his NBA season-high streak of games w/ at least 1 steal to 23.

Joe Johnson recorded his 19th 20-point game of the season (71 games). He recorded 18 20-point games last season (72 games).

Johnson has made 4+ 3-pointers for the 14th time this season, marking a franchise-record for most games with 4+ threes in a single season

Mason Plumlee registered a season-high 4 assists tonight.

Johnson (32) – Livingston (17) – Blatche (14)  – Williams (12) – Plumlee (11) – Teletovic (10)