Up by 14 in second quarter, Nets fall to Rockets

Kenny Atkinson said he went with the “hot hands” on his team, which was why D’Angelo Russell spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench while the Nets were trying to mount a comeback against the Rockets on Friday night at Barclays Center. Not only were the Nets not as hot as they were at the end of their overtime comeback thriller two nights earlier against Detroit, but they were no match for the hot hands of the Rockets, who had four players with more than 20 points in their 119-111 victory.

The Nets blew a 14-point first-half lead and trailed by eight early in the fourth quarter, which was much like the scenario against the Pistons, when Russell also sat out the end of the fourth and all of overtime. Caris LeVert hit a three-pointer with 7:11 left to cut the Rockets’ lead to one. Carmelo Anthony responded with a three at the other end, and LeVert came back with his second straight three to pull the Nets within 103-102 at the 6:45 mark.

But the Nets wilted down the stretch, going scoreless on eight straight possessions while missing five shots and committing three turnovers before Spencer Dinwiddie’s layup with 1:51 left got them within 111-104. By then, the damage had been done.

Asked about the absence of Russell, who had 12 points but missed his last six shots in just 22:26, Atkinson said, “It’s game-to-game. “We’re going to see it with Spencer and Caris and Joe [Harris]. I thought they were playing well. Then we switched everything, and I didn’t want to get any mismatches.”

Asked if Russell’s defense has been lacking, Atkinson said, “It’s more the other guys. D’Angelo has finished 90 percent of our games, but I felt that was the group that was playing well.”

The Rockets (2-4) got a vintage performance from point guard Chris Paul, who had 32 points and 11 assists. Anthony came off the bench to score 28, Clint Capela had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Eric Gordon added 21 points. The Rockets were without MVP James Harden, who sat out his third straight game with a strained hamstring.

LeVert led the Nets (3-6) with 29 points, Harris added 18 and Dinwiddie had 12, but he was 1-for-6 from three-point range.

Russell was even-keeled after the game when asked if he’s frustrated about not finishing the past two games. “We lost,” he said. “That’s my main frustration. In general, we all felt that loss. It looked like it was a game we could have squeezed out, but unfortunately, we didn’t.”

Questioned about whether he has discussed his role with Atkinson, Russell said, “What he told you guys is what it is. I haven’t asked him. It is what it is . . . I’ll look at the game film to see what I can do early in the game to dictate if I’m playing at the end. But we’ve got a lot of guys who are capable of doing a lot of things. Whatever Kenny says goes.”

The Nets shot 71.4 percent from the field (15-for-21) in the first quarter and built their lead to a high of 57-43 in the second on a three by Russell. But the Rockets finished the first half on a 13-4 run as Paul hit a late three, and they took control with a 23-10 run to open the third period for a 79-71 lead.

The Nets struggled to contain Paul. “He hit a ton of tough shots,” Atkinson said. “I felt we really contested him, but we left Carmelo alone more than a couple times. Some of it was we were trying to help on Chris Paul. If we have regrets, it’s leaving Carmelo open at the three-point line too much.”

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.