When the Nets faced the Rockets earlier this month, they were at a rest disadvantage in Houston on a back-to-back.
On Saturday, the roles were reversed when the Rockets came to Barclays Center after playing in Charlotte on Friday. The Nets also returned the favor from their first meeting with a 106-104 win.
It wasn’t easy, as the Nets’ old fourth-quarter issues returned. A 20-point lead at one point got sliced down to five with less than two minutes left. The lead trickled to one with 7.1 seconds left as Amen Thompson stole an inbounds pass and made a three-pointer.
The Nets, who led by 28 in the first half, had to sweat even more after Fred VanVleet made one of two free throws with 3.9 seconds left. On the miss, Alperen Sengun drew a foul on Nic Claxton but missed a free throw with 2.4 seconds left.
He made the second and Spencer Dinwiddie sealed the win with a free throw with 0.7 seconds left.
The Nets (18-27) didn’t help themselves by scoring just 18 points in the fourth or going 9-for-17 on free throws in the period. But the Rockets (21-24) being 4-for-11 on threes gave the Nets a life raft they rode to end a three-game losing streak.
With Cam Johnson out for personal reasons, Cam Thomas started his first game since Dec. 27. Thomas’ first touch was a lob pass to Claxton for a dunk but then he got to his usual business of scoring and finished with 37 points on 11-for-19 shooting.
Thomas shot 8-for-12 in the first half en route to 22 points, his seventh half with at least 20 points this season. The Rockets began blitzing him more on screens in the third, yet Thomas still had his eighth game of at least 30 points this season.
The Nets led the first game 50-49 at halftime only to falter in the third quarter when the Rockets went on a 22-4 run. This time, the Nets came out strong early and didn’t let up after making their first seven shots.
Dorian Finney-Smith also responded with his best game in more than a month by going 4-for-8 on threes. Finney-Smith had 19…
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