Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from disheartening loss to Rockets

The Brooklyn Nets followed a familiar script Friday night, getting off to a hot start before faltering late in a 119-111 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Brooklyn Nets fell to 3-6 Friday night with a come-from-ahead 119-111 loss to the Houston Rockets, who came into Barclays Center on an ugly four-game losing streak before getting well at the hands of the Nets.

Not surprisingly, the Nets were victimized often during the Rockets’ comeback by the pick-and-roll, a basic staple of every NBA offense that Brooklyn seems to be completely mystified by at the defensive end.

After Friday’s game, the Nets remain locked in 30th place — dead last — in defending the pick-and-roll, allowing their opponents 1.06 points per possession against that play.

They are the only team in the NBA allowing more than a point per possession against the pick-and-roll, with the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves tied for the next closest at 0.97 PPP.

Opponents score 47.3 percent of the time they use the PnR against Brooklyn, the highest percentage against any team in the league. The Memphis Grizzlies are the best at defending it so far, allowing a score just 32.1 percent of the time. The Boston Celtics have the best PPP at 0.67.

The Nets shot 49.4 percent on the night (42-for-85), but just 37.5 percent in the second half (18-for-48), and were 15-for-34 (44.1 percent) from 3-point range. They were outrebounded 52-51, allowed 11 offensive boards to their nine and had 12 turnovers that led to 17 Houston points.

The Rockets, meanwhile, shot 49.4 percent (41-for-83), including 15-for-39 (38.5 percent) from deep. Their nine turnovers led to eight points for Brooklyn.

The Nets held a 50-46 edge in points in the paint, but that was skewed by their whopping 26 points in the painted area in the first quarter.

Rodions Kurucs was active for the Nets for the first time in five games since spraining his left ankle Oct. 20 against the Indiana Pacers, but received a DNP-CD. Kenneth Faried and Dzanan Musa were also in the DNP-CD column.

There’s a chance the two rookies, Musa and Kurucs, could be in uniform Saturday night as the Long Island Nets open their G League schedule at Nassau Coliseum against the Westchester Knicks, per Greg Logan of Newsday.

The Nets return to action Sunday evening for a 6 p.m. Eastern tip against the Philadelphia 76ers to close out a three-game homestand at Barclays Center.

Here are the grades from Friday night’s loss.