So they have been prone to wild swings of inconsistency, such as a seven-game losing streak in mid-January, and on the other end, their performance Saturday against the Nets, who again dug themselves a deep first-half hole. Brooklyn tried but could not recover, falling 119-106 at the Toyota Center.
The Nets went from facing one of the league's staunchest defensive teams, the Memphis Grizzlies, to trying to keep up with its fastest, the Rockets, who led the league in possessions per game (100.4) and were third in scoring average (104.1) entering Saturday's game. The end results were largely the same.
Before the game, Nets Coach P. J. Carlesimo indicated that the Nets' success hinged on its ability to slow the Rockets to a steady, more deliberate pace. Instead, they fell victim to the same early defensive sluggishness that cost them in a blowout loss the night before.
Nets' guard Deron Williams did his best early to try to avoid another letdown. He scored 20 points in the first quarter and scored or assisted on the Nets' first 22 points. But he got little support. Brook Lopez missed six of his first seven shots and Joe Johnson scored only 5 points in the first half. Meanwhile, the Rockets took off, starting the second quarter on a 25-6 run.
The Rockets outrebounded the Nets, 27-15, in the first half and assisted on 17 of their first 20 field goals. They scored 20 points in the paint to the Nets' 2 in the second quarter to take a 62-49 lead at halftime.
The Nets cut the deficit to 9 with a stronger showing in the third quarter, making five 3-pointers and not committing a turnover. But the Rockets managed to pull away again in the fourth. Jeremy Lin finished with 14 points and 9 assists, and the center Omer Asik had 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Williams was embarrassed by Lin the first time they faced each other, last Feb. 4, when Lin scored 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting off the bench for the Knicks, the performance that gave birth to Linsanity. The next time they matched up, less than a month later, Williams scored 38 points in an obvious save-face performance. After his first-quarter outburst Saturday, Williams was held to 7 more points and was ejected with 1 minute 7 seconds left in the game after arguing with the referees.
Houston is still fighting its way out of a lengthy mid-month funk, following a stretch in which they had won 10 of 12. McHale acknowledged the team was still fumbling its grasp on a new system.
"We like the style we play when the ball moves," McHale said before the game. "And we're not very good when it doesn't."
When that style is working fluidly, as it did at times Saturday, it can be a majestic thing to behold. On Dec. 17, at Madison Square Garden, the Rockets flattened the Knicks, 109-96, shooting 51.3 percent from the field, with 25 fast-break points and 21 points off turnovers.
The backcourt combination of James Harden, named an All-Star last week, and Lin have shown signs of devastating effectiveness but also maddening lapses. Lin, who is third on the team averaging 12 points per game, is shooting just 28 percent from 3-point range, down from 32 percent last season.
Behind them, Houston leads the N.B.A. in points in transition and turnovers per game. Against the Nets, the Rockets turned the ball over 11 times, but shot 50 percent from the field, had 31 assists and a third win in four games. McHale will take it.
"Everybody wants to believe in a microwave society, where everything works in three days," McHale said. "But it takes time."
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