Voice Of Post

Kevin Garnett Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett lost his cool and perhaps a few brain cells. The Nets just lost. Again.

The night started with a head-butt and an ejection, as Garnett charged at Dwight Howard and delivered his forehead to the Rockets center’s cheek.

Howard responded with an open-hand shot to Garnett’s chin, igniting a brief scuffle. Officials issued technical fouls to both players, but determined only Garnett deserved an ejection.

Frustrations are clearly boiling over for the 38-year-old, who is playing out perhaps the final season of a Hall-of-Fame career on a team going nowhere as the Nets fell to the Rockets on Monday, 113-99, at Barclays Center.

The Rockets (27-11) immediately followed with a 14-5 run in the first quarter and never again trailed, getting 30 points from James Harden to add insult to ejection. The reeling Nets (16-22) dropped their sixth straight.

Garnett and Howard got tangled up under the basket with 7:53 remaining in the first quarter. Garnett was upset about a call, complaining to the ref while giving Howard a little shove after the whistle.

“He hooked (his arm around) me,” Garnett yelled at the ref.

Howard responded with a harder push, and Garnett flipped out. Garnett may not be aging gracefully, but he hasn’t lost his fight.

The Nets forward declined to speak to the media after the game, while Howard played dumb.

“Whatever you want to say I did, that’s cool,” Howard said. “I don’t know (how the head-butt felt). Maybe you should take MMA, see how it feels.”

The back-and-forth escalated when Garnett threw the ball at Howard, and then charged with head-butting intentions. After the two were separated, Garnett walked demonstrably around the court while holding his head, as if talking himself into avoiding further action. He made another turn towards Howard after the situation cooled, failing to get close to his opponent.

“I’m going to ---- this ----- up,” Garnett shouted.

Garnett was clearly the aggressor, but the Nets — specifically Joe Johnson — expressed surprise that Howard wasn’t also ejected.

“They said it didn’t look like Howard threw a punch, that it was an open-hand punch, wasn’t much of a punch,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “It doesn’t matter whether I do (agree with Howard not being ejected) or not. That was the decision that was made and we have to live with it.”

Garnett’s first ejection as a Net didn’t inspire his teammates who’ve coasted for weeks. Brooklyn, which fell to eighth in the East, was pummeled in the second half, wasting another strong performance from Mason Plumlee (24 points).

“We have established an identity,” Hollins said. “We don’t make shots. That’s our identity.”

Garnett has a history with Howard, having gone head-to-head 23 times. In the 2010 Eastern Conference finals, Garnett twice punched down on Howard’s outstretched arm during a possession. According to a report, Garnett used to torture Howard with trash-talk, yelling, “Paint your face, clown!”

Garnett is in his 20th season, the most of any player currently in the NBA, and he’s been flirting with fines, suspensions and ejections.

In the past six weeks, he has deliberately chomped near Joakim Noah’s hand and blew into David West’s face.

Those incidents didn’t prompt action from the NBA. Monday’s head-butt will likely get him a one-game suspension.

Monday also represented Howard’s first appearance in Barclays Center, an eventful debut that included his eight points and five rebounds in 28 minutes. Once upon a trade deadline, Howard was supposed to be the face of the Nets and their move to Brooklyn. He actually asked to be traded from Orlando to the New Jersey Nets in 2012, a significant gesture considering nobody ever wanted to play for the team across the Hudson.

GM Billy King spent over a season shaping his roster around the idea of acquiring Howard, and then the center bailed in the 11th hour by opting into the final year of his contract with Orlando on the night of the trade deadline.

It’s three years later, and the Nets still haven’t recovered from “Dwightmare.”

Howard can smile because he landed in a great spot with James Harden in Houston, following a regrettable detour with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

The Nets went in a different direction: They stink.