On the morning of January 4, the NBA regular season continued, and the Rockets played against the Nets at home, and the game was still difficult. In the last game, the Rockets faced the weak Pistons at home and finally won to stop the decline. In terms of starters, the Rockets continued the lineup from the previous game. Although the Nets are not as strong as they were back then, many players are still in good shape. However, Ethan, a fierce substitute who has been ferocious recently, missed the game due to a minor injury. That partly gave Whitmore a chance to get into the rotation.
In the first quarter, Jalen Green was hatted for a layup, and Finney Smith missed a three-point shot. Claxton scored on a dunk and Jabari Smith missed a three-pointer from the front. Claxton hit a 2-point hook shot. VanVleet advanced with the ball, Shen Jing returned the pass from the outside, and the former received the ball and scored three points.
Johnson broke through with the ball and threw up to score. VanVleet found Jabari on the left with a pass and the latter scored from the middle. Bridges hit a three-pointer, Shin Jing threw the ball under the basket, and Jalen Green caught the pot at the top of the arc and hit a three-point shot. Claxton made a mistake in getting rid of his hand, and Shin Jing was pinched inside, and he hit a solid 2-point shot to overtake! Bridges missed a three-point shot, and Jabari made a shot from the back. Dinwiddie moves the ball, and his teammate hits a three-pointer. Shin Kyung scored on a jumper, and Finneysmith made a three-point shot.
VanVleet hit two three-pointers in a row and almost single-handedly played against many of the Nets' main players. After Whitmore came on the court, he hit a three-point shot to make it 23-20! O'Neal hit a three-pointer, and Thompson made Bridges foul and missed two free throws. Jeff Green hit a three-pointer. The Rockets finally came out of force in the first quarter, and VanVleet made 3 of 3 three-pointers in the first quarter and scored 11 points. The team beat the Nets 26-22 and kept the pace in place to win.