A season-high-tying five consecutive losses, 10 defeats in the last 12 games and an ugly 0-4 road trip weren’t enough to shake Jacque Vaughn’s faith in his struggling team.
“I totally believe in this group. We’ll turn this thing around,” the Nets coach insisted following Wednesday night’s 112-101 loss to Houston in front of 16,563 fans at the Toyota Center.
Brooklyn (15-20) certainly showed some fight after suffering a wire-to-wire 112-85 trouncing in New Orleans a night earlier.
The Nets opened a 64-59 lead on Mikal Bridges’ five-foot floater with 7:54 remaining in the third quarter before Houston center Alperen Sengun and the Rockets (17-15) took over.
The 6-foot-10 Turkish center followed back-to-back 3-pointers by Jalen Green and Fred Van Vleet by making consecutive driving layups to give Houston the lead for good, 69-64, with 6:21 left in the period.
“The third quarter got out of hand for us,” Vaughn ceded.
Sengun, who has scored at least 20 points in each of his last seven contests, finished with a game-high 30 to go with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
“On offense they trust me,” Sengun told the Associated Press. “They’re playing through me, a lot isolation, so I’m trying my best to score.”
He finished 11-of-17 from the floor and drained 8-of-10 free throws to steal any hope the Nets had of escaping this trip with at least one win before they head back to Brooklyn Friday to host Oklahoma City.
“Sengun,” Vaughn said when asked why his team was unable to overcome Houston’s third-quarter blitz. “His ability. We had contained him early. They moved him around a little bit, made it more difficult for us. He was able to get to the line.”
Photo: Michael Wyke/AP
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