HOUSTON — Early days, the Nets tank appears safe.

But losing is the easy part.

The hard part is walking the tightrope of losing without becoming losers. 3

In the most star-driven league in sports, the most direct path to getting one is through the draft — or more to the point, through the lottery.

Through losing.

And the winless Nets certainly are doing that. But capitulating the way they did Monday — a 137-108 humbling in Houston before 18,055 at Toyota Center — was “unacceptable.”

“I need consistency and urgency. And that’s got to be like something that we cannot decide if we’re doing it or not,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “It’s a matter of who we want to be, right? Giving up 42 to start, it’s not great.

“It’s just unacceptable to take an NBA game for granted. And our guys a

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