Brooklyn Nets vs. Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from 109-102 loss

Brooklyn Nets, NBA Summer League — LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 11: Milton Doyle #35 of the Brooklyn Nets handles the ball against the Houston Rockets during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 11, 2018 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Houston Rockets never trailed en route to sending the Brooklyn Nets to the loser’s bracker of the Las Vegas Summer League Wednesday, 109-102.

The Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday opened tournament play in the Las Vegas Summer League against the Houston Rockets, with the unbeaten Rockets never trailing en route to a 109-102 victory over the still-winless Nets.

Houston (4-0) advances to the second round Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the Sacramento Kings 96-84 earlier Wednesday, while Brooklyn (0-4) faces the loser of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers.

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That game will close out Summer League play for the Nets and is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Friday.

The Nets trailed by as much as 16 points, but hung around early in the fourth quarter, cutting the gap to four points in the final period before Houston pulled away thanks to simply being able to take care of the basketball.

Turnovers have plagued Brooklyn throughout their time in Las Vegas and were their undoing Wednesday, as they coughed the ball up 26 times — their highest total in their four games thus far.

The turnovers negated a 52-37 edge on the glass as well as their best performance shooting the ball all week, as they hit 47.6 percent of their shots (39-for-82) and were 8-for-24 from deep and a perfect 16-for-16 at the foul line.

But the Rockets only turned it over eight times and put those extra opportunities to work, hitting 42.2 percent from the floor (38-for-90) and going 12-for-35 from 3-point range (34.3 percent).

Milton Doyle had his strongest performance in Vegas after being lifted from the starting lineup in favor of Shawn Dawson.

Doyle was 6-for-15 from the floor, but took the ball to the rack with aggression, hitting 9-of-9 at the foul line to finish with 21 points in 23 minutes, while also dishing out a team-high six assists.

Dawson played only 18 minutes and scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, but turned the ball over four times. Theo Pinson had a very strong outing with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long range, and had five assists and two blocks.

Jarrett Allen played 23 minutes and posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while battling Houston’s giant frontcourt, which included 7-foot-1 Zhou Qi and 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein playing together for much of the afternoon.

Danuel House led a balanced Houston offensive attack with 18 points. Zhou and De’Anthony Melton each tossed in 17 points, Deng Adel and R.J. Hunter scored 13 each, Markel Brown added 12 and Hartenstein finished with 10.

House also led the Rockets with eight boards, Melton posted four assists and three steals and Zhou blockedf three shots.

Here are three takeaways from the contest: