The NBA China Games shifted from Beijing on Wednesday to the brand new Guangzhou International Sports Arena on Saturday, but the outcome was no better for the Nets in their rematch with the Houston Rockets, a 95-85 loss.
“Tonight we played hard,” Avery Johnson said. “We only gave up 43 percent defensive field goal percentage and 95 points, but offensively, we just made some careless turnovers at the wrong time.”
As they did in the previous game, the Nets trailed for most of the contest, falling behind in the first quarter and failing to ever mount a serious rally late.
Brook Lopez once again led the team in scoring with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, along with nine rebounds and three blocks. New Jersey got solid outings once again from Devin Harris and Terrence Williams, who added 16 points apiece.
Though the Nets struggled on Wednesday to get production out of their newcomers, Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw each scored in double figures, with 19 and 10 points, respectively. Morrow bounced back from a rough performance to go 6-for-9 from the field and was perfect on his three attempts from beyond the arc.
Derrick Favors was replaced in the starting lineup by Joe Smith and contributed no points and one rebound in just eight minutes. Jordan Farmar failed to score in his 17 minutes off the bench and shot just 2-of-12 in the two games in China.
With projected starting power forward Troy Murphy injured and Favors still trying to find his footing in the preseason, Johnson allocated over 30 minutes each to Morrow, Williams and Outlaw as he tries to determine what his rotation will look like opening night.
The Rockets had six players who scored double figures, led by Kevin Martin’s 16 points. Yao Ming scored 10 points and grabbed five boards in 19 minutes. Brad Miller, who will start for Yao at center when Houston plays back-to-back nights this season, made his preseason debut and chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench.
The Nets have concluded their overseas trip, which included stops in Russia and China, and will now return stateside for their last two preseason games. They’ll face the Knicks and Celtics in back-to-back road games on Tuesday and Wednesday before opening the season in Newark against the Pistons on Wednesday, October 27.