First Brooklyn general manager Billy King gave his beleaguered coach a vote of confidence. Then the Nets went out and showed they hadn’t quit on Lionel Hollins, earning a 110-105 victory Tuesday night over Houston.
It was the first time this season they had won without injured rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, auspicious since he will have surgery Wednesday and miss about 10 weeks. But the Nets gave the kind of selfless, team effort that should make King and owner Mikhail Prokhorov feel a little better.
“What a game, what a game, what a game,’’ Hollins said. “As I told the players, it’s really tough to win in this league, and we’ll take a win wherever, whenever.”
Brooklyn had lost consecutive games by a combined 33 points, and a report from Russia this week cited a source in “management” saying Hollins would be fired. But King, speaking with the YES Network’s Sarah Kustok, said the coach is safe — for the moment. And the team followed up by building a 16-point third-quarter lead and never letting Houston closer than two the rest of the night.
“It’s funny because I think the report said it was management — and I’m management. So there was no truth to that,’’ King told Kustok. “I’ve talked to ownership, and — right now — Lionel is our coach and we’re working to try to turn this around.”
Granted, it’s not the most emphatic statement of support. It even has the sound of a Cosa Nostra kiss of death, but at least Tuesday was a good look for Brooklyn.
“We’re working on something here and we’ve had turnover year in and year out since I’ve been here. It’s tough to find continuity if you keep changing personnel,’’ Lopez told The Post. “We have to find something that’s working for us and continue to work with the pieces we have and improve.’’
The Nets worked Houston over inside, thanks to meticulous ball movement and methodical offense against a Rockets team disinterested in defending more than two passes. Brooklyn had season-highs in assists (27) and shooting (.556), and had all five starters in double-figures.
“It’s contagious, and it’s fun to do,’’ point guard Jarrett Jack (10 points, nine assists) said of their passing. “Usually on the second and third action is when [teams] break down. … If you can make them guard three or four situations, that gives guys enough space to make plays. Eventually it’s going to start to cause confusion.’’
And the Nets cashed in on Houston’s confusion. Lopez scored a team-high 24, while Joe Johnson added 22 on Joe Johnson Bobblehead Night — including 15 in the fourth quarter — and a lockdown effort on defense to hold James Harden to 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting.
The best sign may have been Bojan Bogdanovic scoring 19.
Brooklyn built a 74-56 cushion with 5:42 left in the third quarter on a Lopez basket. The Rockets got within 84-82 but no closer. Lopez’s driving dunk off a Markel Brown pass made it 103-97 with 2:20 left, and it was 105-102 when Johnson’s 3-pointer doubled the lead with 1:01 to play.
Clinging to a 108-105 lead with just 10 seconds remaining, Bogdanovic missed a corner 3 but Lopez tapped out the rebound and Jack iced it at the line.
“I thought it was great for our team,” Johnson said. “We needed some kind of spark. They were getting back in the game and we got a bit stagnant. But we started to make plays and we got a few stops.”
“That’s what Joe does. There’s a reason his Bobblehead looks the way it does,’’ added Lopez. “We know we can go to him time and time again in the crunch time. He’s going to deliver.”
He did Tuesday.