Houston Rockets @ Brooklyn Nets
Thursday, January 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM ET
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY | Game ID: 22500471
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
BKN 20 22 25 29 96HOU 26 27 37 30 120
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Durant and Thompson lead the Rockets past the Nets 120-96 for their 4th straight victory
NEW YORK -- — Kevin Durant had 22 points and a season-high 11 assists, Amen Thompson scored 23 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Brooklyn Nets 120-96 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.
Alperen Sengun had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists after a two-game absence for the Rockets, who started fast in both halves to win in Brooklyn for the first time in seven years. Tari Eason finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard each scored 14 points.
Sengun was 8 for 12 from the floor after sitting out two games with a left calf injury.
Cam Thomas scored 21 points for the Nets, who dropped their second straight after winning three in a row for the only time this season. Ziaire Williams added 14.
Michael Porter Jr ., who leads the Nets with a career-high 25.8 points per game, missed the game with an illness along with injured starting guards Egor Demin and Terance Mann . Without them, Brooklyn never led in its first home loss to Houston since Nov. 2, 2018, after winning the last six.
The Nets went 7-4 in December and allowed an NBA-low 104.6 points per game, but the Rockets jumped on them immediately to start the new year. Houston made its first seven shots en route to a 16-5 lead, went up by 14 in the second quarter and took a 53-42 advantage to the break.
Houston then made its first five 3-pointers and started 8 for 9 overall in the second half. Smith and Eason each hit two 3s and Thompson made one in a 19-5 run that extended their 11-point lead to 74-49 when Smith hit back-to-back 3s.
The Rockets played without centers Steven Adams (sprained right ankle) and Clint Capela (illness).
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
DF D. Finney-Smith
JD J. Davison
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
TE T. Eason
BKNCT C. Thomas
DP D. Powell
DS D. Sharpe
DW D. Wolf
JW J. Wilson
NC N. Claxton
NC N. Clowney
NT N. Traore
TM T. Martin
ZW Z. Williams
HOU/BKN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur