After two days of rest , the Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Houston Rockets on Jan. 6. After starting the season with a five-game winning streak, the Thunder have dropped two straight games, one each to the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trailblazers.

Perhaps a streaky season will the norm since teams will be playing 66 games in just over four months. That averages to one game every two days for most teams. With not many breaks, players may get exhausted even faster because of the grind of the schedule.

Hopefully that will favor the younger Oklahoma City squad bolstered by stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The downside is that with fewer games, there are fewer opportunities to climb back into playoff contention or to get a higher seed in the playoffs. A loss here and a loss there will be more critical with fewer games on the schedule.

How the Thunder respond to their two-game losing streak will be an early determination of their playoff hopes. The Northwest Division is a tough one yet again with three teams competing for the division crown. The Trailblazers and Denver Nuggets are right there with the Thunder in the first part of the season.

Last year, the same three teams made the playoffs. It is still early in the season. Yet the Western Conference is already shaking out differently in 2012. The Southwest Division has San Antonio with the only winning record in the division. The Pacific Division had just one playoff team last year, but now has both Los Angeles franchises at the top.

Expect some early swings in division leads and playoff seeds. By the time the All-Star break comes around, there may finally be some distance between teams in terms of division leaders and playoff wannabes.

Still, it behooves head coach Scott Brooks and everyone on the Thunder to take a look at how they won five games and then lost two. With Denver and Portland breathing down their necks, the Thunder can ill afford to have many more losses lest they dig an insurmountable hole. The team has to mature quickly and play at an even keel if they are to make the playoffs for the third straight year.

William Browning is a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder ever since the team relocated from Seattle. As the closest NBA team to Branson, Mo., the Thunder serve as the regional team for southwest Missouri.

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HOUSTON (AP)—It was a deal designed to propel the Houston Rockets toward
the top of the Western Conference.

The Rockets were willing to deal away top scorers Kevin Martin and Luis
Scola and backup point guard Goran Dragic to land Pau Gasol.

Instead, the NBA killed the three-team deal and the Rockets were forced to
prepare for the 2011-12 season with much of the same team that missed the
playoffs last year with a 43-39 record.

Point guard Kyle Lowry and swing forward Chase Budinger will rejoin Martin
and Scola in the starting lineup. Jordan Hill or Patrick Patterson are the
likely candidates to fill the forward spot vacated when the team couldn’t
re-sign Chuck Hayes.

The Rockets open the season Monday on the road against Orlando.

By New Year’s Day, the Houston Rockets will be very familiar
with their rivals to the West.

The Rockets will host the San Antonio Spurs in both teams’ NBA
season opener on Dec. 29.

It’s the first game in a 66-game schedule; the NBA season was
shortened by 16 games due to the lockout.

Houston will host the Spurs in an exhibition game on Dec. 17 and
visit San Antonio for a second and final exhibition game on Dec.
21.

The Spurs earned the top seed in the Western Conference last
season but lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. The
Rockets missed the playoffs.

Houston will visit the Grizzlies on Dec. 30 and host Atlanta on
New Year’s Eve.

Yao Ming is likely to make it official on Wednesday, announcing what is expected to be his retirement from the NBA and a sport that made him a household name in China.

The 7-foot-6 center for the Houston Rockets played eight seasons in the NBA, but has missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years.

His career, including frequent appearances for the Chinese national team at Olympics and world championships, has included leg and foot injuries.

On Wednesday, a large reception hall at a hotel in the Pudong section of Shanghai — Yao’s hometown — has been booked for what will likely be the country’s media event of the year.

Hundreds of media have been accredited to attend the restricted event and are expected to arrive hours early to go through security checks. It is expected to be broadcast live in China and in many countries around the world.

Reports have been circulating for nearly two weeks that the 30-year-old star would retire, but the Rockets have not commented due to the NBA lockout and his management refused to confirm the reports. The NBA said it has not received official retirement paperwork from Yao.

Yao’s contract expired after last season, and the Rockets said they were interested in re-signing him if he came back healthy. Yao said in April in China that his professional future depended on his recovery from a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Selected to the NBA All-Star team eight times after being the top overall pick in the 2002 draft, Yao averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds. More importantly, his impact expanded the NBA’s influence in Asia into lucrative merchandise sales and TV ratings.

Yao had played six years with the Chinese national team before joining the Rockets, and was already a star in his home country.

He carried the Olympic torch through Tiananmen Square and his country’s flag during the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He also donated $2 million and set up a foundation to rebuild schools in the wake of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.

After his rookie season, Yao helped the Rockets reach the playoffs in the next two seasons.

Yao played in 77 games in the 2008-09 season, when Houston reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

But Yao broke his left foot in a postseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and underwent complex surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2009-10 season. He lasted only five games at the start of the 2010-11 season, before breaking his left ankle. He underwent surgery in January, and was lost again for the season.

Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant was on a promotional tour in China earlier this month when he was asked about Yao’s impact on the game.

“Tough, man, tough to see a great player and a great competitor like Yao Ming leave the game after being injured a few years,” Durant said during a stop in the city of Tianjin, east of Beijing.

“He comes in, he works everyday. He sets such a good example for the players coming into the league.”

———

AP Sports Writer Chris Duncan in Houston contributed to this report.

SHANGHAI
– Yao Ming is likely to make it official on Wednesday, announcing what is expected to be his retirement from the NBA and a sport that made him a household name in China.

The 7-foot-6 center for the Houston Rockets played eight seasons in the NBA, but has missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years.

His career, including frequent appearances for the Chinese national team at Olympics and world championships, has included leg and foot injuries.

On Wednesday, a large reception hall at a hotel in the Pudong section of Shanghai — Yao’s hometown — has been booked for what will likely be the country’s media event of the year.

Hundreds of media have been accredited to attend the restricted event and are expected to arrive hours early to go through security checks. It is expected to be broadcast live in China and in many countries around the world.

Reports have been circulating for nearly two weeks that the 30-year-old star would retire, but the Rockets have not commented due to the NBA lockout and his management refused to confirm the reports. The NBA said it has not received official retirement paperwork from Yao.

Yao’s contract expired after last season, and the Rockets said they were interested in re-signing him if he came back healthy. Yao said in April in China that his professional future depended on his recovery from a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Selected to the NBA All-Star team eight times after being the top overall pick in the 2002 draft, Yao averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds. More importantly, his impact expanded the NBA’s influence in Asia into lucrative merchandise sales and TV ratings.

Yao had played six years with the Chinese national team before joining the Rockets, and was already a star in his home country.

He carried the Olympic torch through Tiananmen Square and his country’s flag during the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He also donated $2 million and set up a foundation to rebuild schools in the wake of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.

After his rookie season, Yao helped the Rockets reach the playoffs in the next two seasons.

Yao played in 77 games in the 2008-09 season, when Houston reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

But Yao broke his left foot in a postseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and underwent complex surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2009-10 season. He lasted only five games at the start of the 2010-11 season, before breaking his left ankle. He underwent surgery in January, and was lost again for the season.

Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant was on a promotional tour in China earlier this month when he was asked about Yao’s impact on the game.

“Tough, man, tough to see a great player and a great competitor like Yao Ming leave the game after being injured a few years,” Durant said during a stop in the city of Tianjin, east of Beijing.

“He comes in, he works everyday. He sets such a good example for the players coming into the league.”

___

AP Sports Writer Chris Duncan in Houston contributed to this report.

HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – Yao Ming would be welcomed back to the Houston Rockets if the Chinese giant is able to continue his NBA career after his latest injury rehabilitation, new Rockets coach Kevin McHale said Friday.

In his first public comments since signing with the team, McHale said he hopes the 2.26m center is able to return.

“We would all be really happy if Yao comes back to play and I hope he can,” McHale said. “He will give it his best shot. His body is going to dictate if he can come back and play. That’s all going to be laid out in the future.”

Yao played in only five games last season and underwent surgery in January for a stress fracture in his left ankle, the latest in a series of injury setbacks that have haunted him in recent seasons.

With perennial All-Star Yao only playing a limited role, the Rockets have missed the playoffs in the past two seasons.

Yao’s contract expires with the conclusion of the season but Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has said he would like to have Yao back if Yao is able to continue his NBA career.

“Who wouldn’t like Yao Ming — a big guy who can really make shots, just a huge force in the middle?” Mchale said.

“That’s out of my control. We’ll see where that goes.”

Yao said two weeks ago that he wants to play for the Rockets but is uncertain he will play again at all because of his injuries and will likely not know his status until at least another couple of months.

“I would like to be here. Nowhere else is better than Houston for me right now,” Yao said. “The only issue is my injury. We will know more in August or September.”

McHale, 53, replaced Rick Adelman, who was not brought back after guiding the Rockets for the past four seasons.

McHale won three NBA titles in the 1980s during a 13-year career as a center for the Boston Celtics and has been an executive for the Minnesota Timberwolves over 16 seasons, twice serving in temporary part-season stints as a coach.

“They have pieces in place here that are very good pieces that can be part of a championship-type team,” McHale said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs next year. That’s just what it is and that’s going to fall on me to do it.”

Updated Jun 3, 2011 1:07 PM ET

HOUSTON (AP)

Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander officially introduced Kevin McHale as the team’s new coach on Friday.

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HOUSTON — Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander officially introduced Kevin McHale as the team’s new coach on Friday.

Alexander says he has found a “leader of men” and the “perfect fit” in the former Boston Celtics great.

The 53-year-old McHale replaces Rick Adelman, who parted ways with the team after four seasons. The Rockets have missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

McHale was working as a television analyst. He says he missed the competition and set a playoff berth as an immediate goal.

A seven-time all-star, McHale helped Boston win three NBA championships during a 13-year playing career. McHale then worked 16 seasons as an executive with the Minnesota Timberwolves, including two stints as interim head coach.

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander officially introduced Kevin McHale as the team’s new coach on Friday.

Alexander says he has found a “leader of men” and the “perfect fit” in the former Boston Celtics great.

The 53-year-old McHale replaces Rick Adelman, who parted ways with the team after four seasons. The Rockets have missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

McHale was working as a television analyst. He says he missed the competition and set a playoff berth as an immediate goal.

A seven-time All-Star, McHale helped Boston win three NBA championships during a 13-year playing career. McHale then worked 16 seasons as an executive with the Minnesota Timberwolves, including two stints as interim head coach.

HOUSTON – Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander officially introduced Kevin McHale as the team’s new coach on Friday.

Alexander says he has found a “leader of men” and the “perfect fit” in the former Boston Celtics great.

The 53-year-old McHale replaces Rick Adelman, who parted ways with the team after four seasons. The Rockets have missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

McHale was working as a television analyst. He says he missed the competition and set a playoff berth as an immediate goal.

A seven-time All-Star, McHale helped Boston win three NBA championships during a 13-year playing career. McHale then worked 16 seasons as an executive with the Minnesota Timberwolves, including two stints as interim head coach.

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin McHale has been hired to coach the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets made it official Wednesday that McHale will take over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston.

McHale spent 15 years with the Timberwolves in his native Minnesota. The Hall of Famer was let go in 2009 and has recently served as a TV analyst. Reports last Friday said he was taking the job.

He will be introduced at a news conference in Houston on Friday.

The 53-year-old McHale becomes Houston’s third coach since 2003, when Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down for health reasons. Jeff Van Gundy coached the team from 2003-07, taking the Rockets to three playoff appearances.

“As we explored the opportunity to come to Houston, it felt like the right situation for me,” McHale said in a statement. “I enjoy the competitive nature of our game and I am looking forward to getting to work with the very talented roster of players that are already in place here in Houston.”

He will return to coaching for the first time since posting a 20-43 record with the Timberwolves in the 2008-09 season, when he took over after Randy Wittman was fired. McHale also led Minnesota for the last 31 games of the 2004-2005 season after he fired Flip Saunders, but he has never coached a full NBA season.

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander believes McHale’s impressive basketball pedigree will lead to success in Houston despite his limited coaching experience.

“Kevin McHale is a proven NBA champion (with the Boston Celtics) who has the leadership skills and basketball knowledge necessary to guide our team into the future,” Alexander said. “Kevin’s hard-nosed work ethic and tenacity on the court led him to a Hall of Fame career and a legacy as one of the NBA’s greatest low-post players of all time. I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin share his unique basketball knowledge and experience.”

Houston has failed to reach the playoffs the last two years as it dealt with injuries that have limited All-Star center Yao Ming to just five games since the 2008-09 season. In Yao’s last healthy season, Houston reached the Western Conference semifinals, breaking a streak of seven consecutive first-round exits for the franchise.

The Rockets went 43-39 this season as one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, averaging 105.9 points per game.

Yao’s contract expires this summer, but he has said he hopes to continue playing for the Rockets when he recovers from the stress fracture to his left ankle.

McHale first joined the Timberwolves as a TV analyst and special assistant before he was promoted to assistant general manager in August 1994. He was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 1995 and drafted Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick that year.

The Wolves soon began a run of seven straight playoff appearances from 1997-2004 and reached the Western Conference finals in 2004.

The highlight of McHale’s time as an executive in Minnesota was drafting Garnett. Subsequent moves and draft picks didn’t turn out as well and he became increasingly unpopular with fans.

McHale was the third overall pick in the 1980 draft, won three championships with the Celtics and was chosen in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest NBA players.

He was a seven-time All-Star in his 13 seasons with the Celtics. He won the NBA’s Sixth Man award twice and averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for his career. He was even better in the playoffs where he averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in 169 career games.

McHale was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

HOUSTON — Kevin McHale has been hired to coach the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets made it official Wednesday that McHale will take over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston.

McHale spent 15 years with the Timberwolves in his native Minnesota. The Hall of Famer was let go in 2009 and has recently served as a TV analyst. Reports last Friday said he was taking the job.

He will be introduced at a news conference in Houston on Friday.

The 53-year-old McHale becomes Houston’s third coach since 2003, when Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down for health reasons. Jeff Van Gundy coached the team from 2003-07, taking the Rockets to three playoff appearances.

“As we explored the opportunity to come to Houston, it felt like the right situation for me,” McHale said in a statement. “I enjoy the competitive nature of our game and I am looking forward to getting to work with the very talented roster of players that are already in place here in Houston.”

He will return to coaching for the first time since posting a 20-43 record with the Timberwolves in the 2008-09 season, when he took over after Randy Wittman was fired. McHale also led Minnesota for the last 31 games of the 2004-2005 season after he fired Flip Saunders, but he has never coached a full NBA season.

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander believes McHale’s impressive basketball pedigree will lead to success in Houston despite his limited coaching experience.

“Kevin McHale is a proven NBA champion (with the Boston Celtics) who has the leadership skills and basketball knowledge necessary to guide our team into the future,” Alexander said. “Kevin’s hard-nosed work ethic and tenacity on the court led him to a Hall of Fame career and a legacy as one of the NBA’s greatest low-post players of all time. I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin share his unique basketball knowledge and experience.”

Houston has failed to reach the playoffs the past two years as it dealt with injuries that have limited All-Star center Yao Ming to just five games since the 2008-09 season. In Yao’s last healthy season, Houston reached the Western Conference semifinals, breaking a streak of seven consecutive first-round exits for the franchise.

The Rockets went 43-39 this season as one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, averaging 105.9 points per game.

Yao’s contract expires this summer, but he has said he hopes to continue playing for the Rockets when he recovers from the stress fracture to his left ankle.

McHale first joined the Timberwolves as a TV analyst and special assistant before he was promoted to assistant general manager in August 1994. He was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 1995 and drafted Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick that year.

The Wolves soon began a run of seven straight playoff appearances from 1997-2004 and reached the Western Conference finals in 2004.

The highlight of McHale’s time as an executive in Minnesota was drafting Garnett. Subsequent moves and draft picks didn’t turn out as well and he became increasingly unpopular with fans.

McHale was the third overall pick in the 1980 draft, won three championships with the Celtics and was chosen in 1996 as one of the 50 greatest NBA players.

He was a seven-time All-Star in his 13 seasons with the Celtics. He won the NBA’s Sixth Man award twice and averaged 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for his career. He was even better in the playoffs where he averaged 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in 169 career games.

McHale was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

By Matt Conner

– Editor

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May 27, 2011 – After rumors that had former NBA great Kevin McHale as a frontrunner for the Houston Rockets head coaching gig, the word is now official with a contract in place to officially succeed Rick Adelman. According to ESPN, McHale beat out other finalists like Lawrence Frank and Dwane Casey. Yet despite being able to flash some high profile bling from his playing days and holding onto his one great draft pick of Kevin Garnett, it remains to be seen what the draw was for Houston execs to pull the trigger on this deal.

The bottom line is that Kevin McHale has been an Isaiah Thomas-lite on this side of his NBA playing days. Several miserable years as a Minnesota Timberwolves executive finally came to an end before the 2009-2010 season, leaving behind a legacy of wasted draft choices, embarrassing sanctions from David Stern for the Joe Smith free agency debacle and a 39-55 interim coaching record in two different stints. As a player, he was one of the best of all time. As anything else basketball-related, he’s been a miserable failure.

So why would Houston give up on Adelman? Perhaps it was time for fresh blood, but certainly the failure to make the playoffs cannot rest on his shoulders alone. Adelman went 193-135 in his four full seasons in Houston. He also went 9-10 in the NBA Playoffs, missing the last two seasons, including this year when the Rockets sunk to fifth place in their division with a 43-39 record. Yet the injuries mounted early and often for the Rockets, so it’s not all Adelman’s fault. Of course, it’s assumed Adelman will find another job soon, given he was a finalist for the Lakers job already.

McHale will face the same issues, like health, as Adelman, since no single Rockets player suited up for 82 games last season. A stress fracture kept Yao Ming from playing most of last season, limiting him to five games, and even though he says everything is healing well, it’s questionable whether he will even be able to play this year as well. The injury history is long for Ming and it creates all kinds of questions on the team’s identity since Yao is such a force when healthy.

The team also has to make up for the departure of team leader and do-it-all forward Shane Battier after trading him to the Memphis Grizzlies next season, but the Rockets do have the No. 14 and No. 23 picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. To that end, they can add some needed depth or secure a top player in the lottery if they can move up enough. Still, McHale has shown no ability to make either of these things work in the past. He has his work cut out for him to bring out the best in project center Hasheem Thabeet and find an identity for a team in need of one in a competitive Western Conference.

Read More: Kevin Garnett (F – BOS), Rick Adelman (H – HOU), Dwane Casey (A – DAL), Lawrence Frank (H – NJN), Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers

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The Los Angeles Lakers have narrowed their coaching search to former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown and former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman, according to sources, with current Lakers assistant Brian Shaw, the preferred choice of most of the team’s current players, still in the mix. But the Lakers’ insistence on holding firm to a lower salary for their next head coach has kept the search open.

The Lakers want to significantly reduce the salary they pay their next head coach after paying Phil Jackson $10 million in his final season and $12.5 million the previous season. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the Lakers were not willing to go above $5 million in salary next season. While Brown is not expecting to make $7 million a year as Doc Rivers will be getting from Boston starting next season (Rivers signed a five-year, $35 million deal last week), the next tier of coaches, led by New York’s Mike D’Antoni (four years, $24 million), don’t have Jackson or Rivers’ pedigree, while Brown has a 2007 Finals appearance and two Eastern Conference finals appearances to his credit.

But the Lakers are adamant about maintaining their salary ceiling, and seem to be looking for the candidate that will accept those terms as opposed to picking a candidate and negotiating a deal with him.

Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday evening that the Lakers were in serious negotiations with Brown, who has spent this year working in television with ESPN after being fired as coach of the Cavaliers after Cleveland’s second-round loss to Boston in the 2010 playoffs.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss had said earlier in the day in a radio interview on XM Sirius Radio that the team was “very close” to hiring a new coach, and seemed to dismiss the notion that the team would hire Shaw because several players, including Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, had endorsed his candidacy.

“Obviously, we have to select somebody who has a reputation that players would be happy with,” Buss said in the interview, on Playboy Radio, with local broadcaster Michael Eaves and Lakers executive Bonnie-Jill Laflin. “But to ask a direct player to select a particular coach, that’s general manager territory.”

Brown, 41, was 272-138 in five seasons in Cleveland, reaching the second round of the playoffs each season. But after the Cavaliers’ six-game loss to Boston in which the Cavs played poorly in the last two games, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert decided to fire Brown. That decision helped lead to former team president Danny Ferry’s departure from the club as well, and James, famously, followed both out the door in July.

Adelman, 64, moved into eighth place on the NBA’s all-time coaching victories list this season, finishing the year with 945 wins, one better than Bill Fitch and seven ahead of Red Auerbach. In 20 seasons as a head coach, Adelman is 945-616 (.605), with only four losing seasons. His teams have made the postseason 16 times, and he’s reached the Finals twice, both times with Portland (1990 and 1992). This season may have been one of his best coaching jobs; Houston had hoped to have Yao Ming back this season after he’d missed all of the 2009-10 season with a stress fracture in his left ankle, but Yao only played five games before suffering another stress fracture in the left ankle that shelved him the rest of the year.

But Adelman remade the Rockets on the fly, turning them from a team that was planning to pound the ball inside to one that got its scoring from the perimeter with guards Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry. Houston didn’t make the playoffs, but was one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch, going 17-8 after the All-Star break. Nonetheless, the Rockets made next to no attempt to re-sign him and the club announced after the season it and Adelman had mutually agreed to part ways.

Shaw has been a Lakers assistant for five years, gaining the respect of players as someone who can speak candidly to players and challenge them. He played with the team from 1999 to 2003, helping the team win three straight NBA titles. He has said that he would maintain the triangle offense that Jackson used both in Los Angeles and Chicago, though he would tweak it some. Buss said that he expected the team to play some triangle next season but also expected some changes in the offense.

The Lakers have moved away from veteran coaches Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Dunleavy, the ex-Clippers coach and general manager who led the Lakers to the 1991 Finals.