In the team's second game of a back to back, the Brooklyn Nets came up short in Houston. Steve Nash's group is now 17-8, having handled seven of their last ten. But during a game where both Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge got a much needed rest, the shorthanded Nets came up a bit well…short.

James Harden had the tall order of trying to beat a team that had won six games in a row without much help, while logging some major minutes himself lately. He was 10th overall in minutes per game coming in to Wednesday's road game. His eclipsed his average logging another 39 minutes.

They were already without Joe Harris (ankle surgery) plus KD and LMA were out as mentioned. And you may have heard they're without the services of one Kyrie Irving as well.

What does it mean to James Harden to be back in Houston?

“I definitely think it means something to James,” said head coach Steve Nash before the game. “He had a historic run here, and I know this city means a lot to him. It's always gonna be special to him.”

“Very special,” admitted Harden. “I spent some of my most amazing years here on the court and off the court… Lot of love. Lot of support, lot of family.”

The Nets trailed by 17 points heading into the fourth quarter and battled back, cutting the lead to just four with minutes to go. But then they ran out of steam.

“It is difficult man, all in all, when you're already short handed not one, two, but a few players…it's very difficult,” said an exhausted Harden. The Beard finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 8 dimes, although he was just 4 of 16 from the floor. It was the team's fourth game in just six nights.

The Houston Rockets have had a wacky year. They lost a brutal 15 in a row, before rattling off their current seven game winning streak. They now sit at 8-16, 13th place in the West. Did they do something to take Harden's go-to shots away?

”No,” explained the three-time NBA scoring champ. “I got the shots that I wanted for sure, I just you know, didn't make 'em.”

At one point during the game, Harden was limping after this play, coming down on the defender's foot on a close no-call.

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He recovered from that and battled back. After a late rally he took a triple when the game was as close as 98-94 and misfired. The upstart Rockets would pull away after that, winning 114-104 led by Eric Gordon who had 21 points before being ejected arguing a call in the final frame.

What if one of those late game triples had gone down, might the final result have been different?

“Of course, of course. Any of those shots it's definitely a different story,” explained the 2018 MVP. “Especially being down four. The game gets a little tighter…and we were already on a run, we were already feeling confident about ourselves. It's just a couple missed lapses by myself, couple missed shots by myself that just didn't go in that I feel like it could be better. Obviously, if i make those shots its a different ballgame.”

Harden also took ownership of their loss to the Chicago Bulls recently. It's not a theme they want to continue, but it's a sign of leadership he can own up when he didn't play his best. This was his second time visiting Houston since being traded to Brooklyn last winter. The Nets visit the Atlanta Hawks next on Friday.