NETS GAMENIGHT: #Rockets @ #Nets

HOUSTON ROCKETS (49-23) @ BROOKLYN NETS (39-33)

Barclays Center 8:00

TV: TNT RADIO: CBS 880

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NETS STARTERS
The starting lineup will be  Deron Williams playing alongside  Shaun Livingston in the backcourt with  Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce up front and the man in the middle Mason Plumlee.

The Nets won their 13th straight home game on Sunday when they turned the defense up late and sent the Timberwolves packing early on the fourth with an impressive 114-99 victory.

It was a game that tested these new-Nets when they coughed up the lead in the third quarter with sloppy play only to see the bench dig them out of it and eventually pull away with another win.

Brooklyn will be looking to get some revenge against the Rockets for a beating they took late in November when they were in disarray 114-95.

Kevin Garnett will miss a 17th straight game due to back spasms.

ROCKETS STARTERS

The Rockets starting lineup will be Jeremy Lin and James Harden in the backcourt with Chandler Parsons, Terrence Jones and  Omer Asik playing in the frontcourt.

The Rockets are coming off a loss to the Clippers on Saturday despite big games from Harden with 32 points and Parsons added 28.

Dwight Howard (ankle) and Patrick  Beverly (knee) will miss their only game in Brooklyn this season so the pressure falls on Harden and Lin to score enough to beat the Nets and stop their home winning streak.

Jones is listed as questionable with flu-like symptoms as well.

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GAME NOTES:

A win would be the team’s franchise-record 14th straight home victory and that would also mark the longest home winning streak in the NBA this season.

Brooklyn will clinch a playoff berth with a win.

The Nets are looking for the team’s seventh straight home victory over Western Conference opponents.

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[quote_simple]WHAT TO LOOK FOR

A Little payback

The Nets took on the Rockets at the end of November and they were lost at that point and in a tailspin so tonight is the first and only chance left for some payback.

Houston has won 14 consecutive game against the Nets as a franchise and in November they built a huge 26-point halftime lead before cruising to the finish line in wire-to-wire fashion.

The losing streak to Houston needs to end tonight and in order to do that Brooklyn needs to play defense like they did in the fourth quarter Sunday all night long tonight.

Payback is on tap and the Nets better get it tonight to set franchise history at home.

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[box]INJURY REPORT

NETS

Marcus Thornton – QUEST (lower back)

Andrei Kirilenko – OUT (sprained left ankle)

Kevin Garnett – OUT (back spasms)

Brook Lopez  – OUT (ankle)

ROCKETS

Terrence Jones – GTD (illness)

Dwight Howard – OUT (left ankle strain)

Pat Beverly – OUT (right knee sprain)

Greg Smith – OUT (right knee)

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Coach Kidd – “No one cares who scores, it’s all about Brooklyn.”

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