Trail Blazers-Rockets Preview

By JUSTIN EINHORN

(AP) -- Just six months removed from leading the Houston Rockets into the Western Conference finals, Kevin McHale is no longer their coach.

The Rockets take the court just hours after the surprise firing of McHale and try to start turning around their disappointing start to the season as they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

With Houston opening 4-7 after last season's 56-win campaign, management abruptly fired McHale on Wednesday. Assistant J.B. Bickerstaff will take over as coach on an interim basis.

McHale had been in his fifth season as Rockets coach after leading the team to its first conference finals appearance since 1997 back in May. However, the team entered this contest on a four-game losing streak, its worst since a seven-game skid in January 2013.

Possibly more disconcerting - and maybe what most had to do with the decision to let McHale go - was the team often displaying a defeatist attitude on the court.

"We can't hang our heads, we gotta keep fighting," center Dwight Howard said after scoring a season-low five points in Monday's 110-98 home loss to Boston.

Getting down on themselves has been as much a problem as anything they're doing physically wrong according to many of the Rockets. They already have a pair of losing streaks longer than two games this season after not having one in 2014-15 en route to the Southwest Division title.

"When you start putting your head down, things like that, one problem becomes another problem and it's a snowball effect," said point guard Ty Lawson, who has had trouble fitting in following his offseason acquisition from Denver. He's averaged 5.6 points on 26.2 percent shooting over the past five games.

McHale also noticed his players' poor attitude after Monday's defeat and said his team wasn't giving 100 percent.

"At times, I wouldn't say full effort all the time, no," said McHale, who also referenced the team's knack for looking down when adversity arises. "Things aren't going our way and we hang our head. We haven't put together really good basketball all year long."

On Monday, being outscored 32-13 in the third quarter sent Houston's heads down and brought out the boos from the Toyota Center crowd. Two nights earlier, fans were upset much earlier because the Rockets never recovered after being outscored 50-25 in the game's first 18 minutes.

"We just gotta figure it out," said James Harden, who shot 9 for 31 in those two games. "It's not gonna take one guy, it's gonna take the entire team."

Bickerstaff has been an assistant with Houston since 2011 after stints with Minnesota and Charlotte, where he served under his father, longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Whereas Houston being toward the bottom of the West is a shock, Portland's position in the Northwest Division basement is no surprise after losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum in the offseason.

The Trail Blazers (4-8) have dropped six straight - their worst losing streak since closing 2012-13 on a 13-game skid - after falling 93-80 in San Antonio on Monday despite holding Aldridge to five points.

It was the third loss during the skid that was a one-possession game with under three minutes to play.

"I think it's a matter of us learning how to win games," said point guard Damian Lillard, who had 27 points.

Portland went 2-1 against Houston last season, but Aldridge averaged 25.0 points in those wins and missed the loss. Harden surpassed 40 points in three straight matchups with the Blazers before being held to 18 in the last meeting as Houston lost 105-100 on March 11.

While Portland could be missing Meyers Leonard (shoulder) for a fourth consecutive game, Houston is likely to be without Patrick Beverley (ankle) for a third straight.