Stephen A. Smith holds nothing back in his scathing criticism of the Houston Texans

TEXANS ON BLAST

Friday on First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman react to David Culley's press conference he held with the media on Thursday via Zoom. Stephen A. believes Culley shouldn't have to be the face of the dysfunction within the Texans because he wasn't part of the organization when all the bad decisions occurred which led them to where they are now. He insists that Cal McNair should have to face the music for the disaster the organization has become. Check out the video to learn more.

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Nets defeat the Rockets, 99-97. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

Keon Johnson and D'Angelo Russell made 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, and the Brooklyn Nets stunned the Houston Rockets 99-97 on Tuesday night for their first home victory in two months.

Brooklyn trailed 97-93 when Tosan Evbuomwan inbounded the ball to Johnson, who made a 3 from the wing with 8.1 seconds left. Houston's Amen Thompson then threw an inbounds pass that skipped past Dillon Brooks, and Evbuomwan tipped it to Russell, who buried a 3 to put the Nets ahead with 3.4 seconds remaining.

Jalen Green missed a deep 3 at the buzzer for the Rockets as Brooklyn (17-33) ended its 11-game skid at Barclays Center.

Johnson scored 22 points, and Evbuomwan and Nic Claxton each scored 14. Russell had 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Alperen Sengun had 24 points and 20 rebounds while Reed Sheppard and Brooks each finished with 16 for the Rockets (32-18), who have lost four straight — two to Brooklyn — since a four-game winning streak that included two wins over Cleveland and one against Boston.

Takeaways

Rockets: Thompson was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for January. Thompson, who on Tuesday was selected to the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, averaged 1.4 blocks and 2.2 steals over 12 games last month, the only player to average at least two steals and one block during that time.

Nets: Brooklyn swept the season series from the Rockets for the first time since 2022-23.

Key moment

The Nets were down by nine points midway through the third quarter and responded with a 14-0 run in which Claxton and Tyrese Martin did all the scoring.

Key stat

Brooklyn’s last victory at Barclays Center was on Dec. 4 against Indiana.

Up next

Brooklyn continues its six-game homestand Wednesday against Washington. Houston visits Minnesota on Thursday.

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