Mikal Bridges had his third consecutive 30-point game as the Brooklyn Nets continued their resurgence.
Bridges scored 30 points while Joe Harris and Seth Curry added 12 apiece off the bench for the Nets to ground the Houston Rockets 118-96 Tuesday night, marking the first time this season that they have won three straight games by double digits.
It also marked the first time this season Brooklyn has won three straight games by double digits.
The Nets (37-28) overcame a slow start to pull within one game for the fifth seed, currently held by their crosstown rival New York Knicks (39-27), whose nine-game winning streak got snapped on the same night.
Harris and Cam Johnson netted two three-pointers each in the second quarter as the Nets wrested control and never looked back.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 23 points on 50 percent shooting.
Rockets’ second-year guard Jalen Green posterized Nic Claxton toward the end of the third quarter, but the Nets center had the last laugh with a monster double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks) and the victory.
Harris shot 4 for 7 from the 3-point territory, while Curry went 4 of 6 overall. Nerlens Noel, who signed a 10-day contract, had a foul-plagued debut, finishing with two points and three rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
Cam Thomas received a DNP as coach Jacque Vaughn stuck to a nine-man rotation.
The schedule gets harder from here as they continue their five-game road trip with back-to-back games in Milwaukee on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday, followed by a visit to the Western Conference leader Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo