HOUSTON — The Nets can’t buy a basket. Or beg a win.

Brooklyn imploded in the third quarter, suffering a 112-101 loss to the Rockets on Wednesday night before a crowd of 16,563 at Toyota Center.

It extended the Nets’ losing streak to five in a row, and they’ve dropped 10 of their last 12. It’s a skid that has them increasingly salty.

“Oh, frustrated. Of course,” Nic Claxton said of the team’s mood. “I mean, nobody likes losing. I’m not used to losing. But you can’t let that be contagious. And you’ve got to just learn from it and keep our spirits high and keep our process right. Stay positive. It’s easier said than done; but that’s our challenge right now. And we’ve just got to see that light at the end of the tunnel.”

And hope it’s not a subway.

The Nets (15-20) at least showed a little fight, which is more than can be said of their embarrassing performance the night before against the Pelicans.

The Nets led by five in the third quarter Wednesday, before surrendering a 15-1 run — including the first 10 points unanswered — and never challenging again.

“I like the fact that they aren’t accepting where we are right now. We feel like we should’ve won more games. We should be winning games. We should be making shots. So I feel for them in that circumstance,” Jacque Vaughn said. “But at the same time, we got to just continue to do the work that’s gonna put us in position to win ballgames.”

The Nets haven’t won a ballgame that didn’t come against the pitiful Pistons since Dec. 13.

Wednesday they shot just 38.7 percent from the floor, and 13 of 44 from 3-point range as their extended shooting slump continues.

Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson had 15 points each, though Bridges was 5 of 18. And that was efficient compared to Cam Thomas.

Brooklyn’s leading scorer, Thomas has seen his personal slump worsen. He was held to just four points on an 0-for-7 night, and has now missed 20 straight attempts from the field over his last three games.

It’s the worst skid the high-scoring young guard can recall.

“Oh yeah, it’s a first but I think people forget I’m human,” Thomas said. “I’m still in my third year, I’m going to have ups and downs. I don’t know why it’s such a big thing when I’m off. I’m human, so I’m gonna have some bad games like this. But the thing about me, [I] stay confident.”

Houston’s one-two punch of center Alperen Sengun (game-high 30 points, eight rebounds) and point guard Fred VanVleet (21 points, 10 assists) proved too much to overcome.

The Nets had eight first-half steals and forced 12 turnovers, leading 50-49 at the break. But after the Rockets moved Sengun to the elbow and made him tougher to trap, Brooklyn had no answers.

Still clinging to a 64-59 lead with 7:54 left in the third on a driving floater by Bridges, the Nets missed their next three shots, and saw Houston hit its next four.

A quick 10-0 blitz over the next minute-and-a-half — helped by a successful challenge by Houston coach Ime Udoka — flipped the five-point lead into a five-point deficit. Sengun’s layup made it 69-64 with 6:21 to go in the third.

The Nets missed six straight shots, and let the Rockets make five in a row — three of them from behind the arc.

Sengun’s free throws padded the lead to 74-65 with 5:04 left in the third.

That’s when Brooklyn collectively let go of the rope.

“We just kind of let up a little bit. We should’ve had the same intensity as the first [half],” said Royce O’Neale, who had 13 points.

The deficit reached 13 later in the period, and 107-89 with 4:44 to play on a 3-pointer by VanVleet.

The ultimate ignominy was Vaughn challenging an out-of-bounds call and getting it overturned, but resulting in a shooting foul against O’Neale. That’s the kind of night it was for the Nets — and the kind of slump it’s been.